St. Paul police investigating third homicide in one week

A woman is dead and her husband has been arrested on suspicion of murder after emergency crews were called to a home in St. Paul's Payne-Phalen neighborhood on Saturday morning.

It's the third homicide investigation for the St. Paul Police Department in one week.

Police said the call to the home in the 1400 block of Payne Avenue at about 10 a.m. Saturday initially was for a fire.

When officers and firefighters arrived, they didn't find a fire — but did find a woman who was gravely injured. She died at the scene. Her name and cause of death have not been released.

Police arrested a 59-year-old man who was at the house. They say the man and woman were married, but may have been estranged.

The case remains under investigation. It follows two fatal shootings earlier in the week:

1. Devon L. Goode, 21, died Sunday after being shot in the 1400 block of Sixth Street East. An arrest has been made in that case.

2. Lil R. Molin, 26, died Thursday after being shot in the 1400 block of Maryland Avenue East. No arrests have yet been made in that homicide.

   St. Paul Police Department public information officer Steve Linders said Saturday that the recent homicides have been tragic for the community and difficult for the department.

   "It's been a tough week for St. Paul and it's been a tough week for our officers, and especially our homicide unit," he said. "To have three homicides in one week is incredibly tragic but also trying; it takes a lot of resources and a lot of long nights."