Cynthia Achenbach

Cynthia Achenbach

Man Killed Wife In Driveway

Kids In House At Time; Suspect Surrenders After 2-Hour Standoff

POSTED: 2:32 pm EDT April 23, 2008

ANDERSON, Ind. -- A man fatally shot his wife in his driveway while their children were nearby Wednesday, then engaged in a two-hour standoff with police at his Anderson home before surrendering, authorities said.

Investigators believe Michael Achenbach shot Cynthia Achenbach, 24, at about 12:30 p.m. outside his house in the 2000 block of Charles Street on Anderson's southeast side, authorities said.Someone called police, and officers found the woman's body in the driveway. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

Michael Achenbach's mother and brother and the couple's two children -- one of whom is 1 year old -- were at the home when the shooting happened, police said. His relatives took the children from the house after the shooting, police said.Officers surrounded the house, in which Michael Achenbach, 34, stayed alone for two hours, armed with a shotgun, authorities said.

Police were able to talk to Michael Achenbach by phone, and at about 2:55 p.m., he exited the house and lay down on the front lawn. Video from 6News' helicopter shows officers marching to the lawn and handcuffing him before leading him to a police car."He was on the line with our hostage negotiator right up until the point where he handcuffed him and put him under arrest," Anderson police Detective Joel Sandefur told 6News' Jennifer Carmack.

Michael Achenbach

Information on the other child's age wasn't immediately available.The shooting came more than two months after Michael Achenbach was arrested on suspicion of cutting his wife at Mounds Mall during an argument over a cell phone.

She had received a protective order against him last month and was not living at the Charles Street house when she was shot, police said.Michael Achenbach was charged with criminal confinement and battery in connection with the Feb. 8 incident and was awaiting a resolution to that case.

Achenbach was being held Wednesday evening in the Madison County jail on a murder charge, authorities said.