Husband held in apparent ax killing

GRAHAM, Wash. – A 52-year-old woman was killed and her daughter critically injured in an apparent ax attack near Graham in Pierce County.

The dead woman’s 52-year-old husband was booked into jail for investigation of first-degree murder and first-degree assault.

Sheriff’s detective Ed Troyer said deputies were dispatched to a home about 10:30 p.m. Friday after a man called 911 to report that he’d just attacked his wife and stepdaughter. Troyer said the women apparently were attacked with an ax.

The 33-year-old injured woman was taken to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition.

The names of the victims and the arrested man were not immediately released.