Kansas City man arraigned Thursday in death of wife thrown from balcony

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man accused of throwing his ailing wife off their fourth-floor balcony was arraigned Thursday on charges of second-degree murder.

Stanley J. Reimer, 51, appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court to hear the charge in the death late Tuesday of Criste Reimer, 47.

Reimer did not have an attorney at the hearing and requested representation by the public defender's office. He remained jailed on $250,000 bond.

The judge scheduled another hearing for Sept. 10.

According to court documents filed Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court, Reimer walked his wife to the balcony of their apartment Tuesday night and threw her over.

In the probable-cause statement filed with the charges, police said Reimer told them he could no longer pay the bills for his wife's treatment for neurological problems and uterine cancer.

According to Jackson County Probate Court records, Criste Reimer had been in ill health for several years. Her weight had fallen to 75 pounds and she was partly blind. Court records also said she had no health insurance to pay for medical bills that ranged from $700 to $800 per week.

A Nelson-Atkins official who refused to be named said Reimer had worked in the museum's finance department since 1996 and that the museum offers full family insurance coverage to its employees. She would not say if the Reimers had that coverage, citing privacy concerns.