On the evening of December 9, police say a domestic argument between two people ended in tragedy when Ruthann Schwander, 48, was strangled in Apartment 1B on 17 Maple Avenue in the Village of Ellenville.

The next afternoon, officers of the Ellenville Police Department went to the apartment after a call was made requesting that police check on Ms. Schwander. Shortly after arriving on the scene, the officers found Ms. Schwander's body and were able to determine that her death was, "the result of a homicidal act," the police said in a release issued Monday night.

Members of the New York State Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Ellenville Police Department, the New York State Police Violent Felony Warrant Squad and the New York Police Department located their chief suspect, William Plaza, who lived with the victim and was her boyfriend.

Police found Plaza, who authorities allege fled after the crime, walking on a street in New York City in a neighborhood that he was known to frequent. Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion said that Plaza, "came without incident," and added, "From start to finish, the suspect was caught in less than twenty-four hours."

Further police investigation revealed that Plaza, 45, and the victim "became embroiled in a verbal altercation inside their residence that soon turned physical." During the course of the argument, the police allege that, "the suspect physically assaulted the victim, and that the assault was responsible for causing the death of Ruthann Schwander." Subsequent questioning resulted, police said, is admissions by Plaza implicating himself in the crime.

Plaza was arraigned on Monday, December 11 in the Village of Ellenville and charged with Murder in the Second Degree. He was then sent to lock-up in the Ulster County Jail.

As to whether Plaza had a previous criminal record or whether there had been previous cause for concern regarding Ms. Schwander's welfare, Chief Mattracion and New York State Police Senior Inspector Stan O'Dell refused comment.

But it appears that the violence between the couple was an open secret in the neighborhood. Neighbors of the couple spoke freely on Sunday afternoon as the investigation was first beginning, saying that the couple fought constantly and that local police were called on a regular basis to the multi-family residence. One gentleman said, "The police are here, two or three times a week. It was a nuisance."

As speculation grew and word spread that the police were dealing with a body, all of the residents on the street seemed to know who was involved as they feared the worst. One woman, driving in her car attempting to get to her home said, "Lord, I hope he didn't do it."

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