Army veteran accused of killing wife with absinthe bottle was home sleeping: Attorney
Kathleen West's husband was charged with using a bottle as a murder weapon.
— -- A month after Kathleen West's half-naked body was discovered by a neighbor outside her Alabama home, her husband William Jeffrey West was charged with her murder on Friday. But the man's lawyer claimed Monday he was asleep the whole time.
William West, a 44-year-old Army veteran, "caused the death of Kathleen Dawn West, with a weapon/bottle of Lucid Absinthe" on Jan. 12, according to the charging warrant acquired by ABC News.
But the accused husband's attorney, John Robbins, told ABC News that his client didn't commit the murder of the 42-year-old mother and wife of 14 years.
"He was home, in the house, and when the neighbor discovered the body he was sleeping," Robbins said.
Before he was formally charged, William not only attended Kathleen's burial but organized the memorial.
"He handled the funeral arrangements and went to the funeral," Robbins said.
Robbins blamed Kathleen West's work as an online exhibitionist for her death.
"Everybody knows there's a lot of creeps out there and they could get out of line and stalk her," said Robbins, who had only been retained on Friday.
The victim referred to herself as an "exhibitionist" on Facebook, linked to a paid adult site and posted numerous photos featuring Marilyn Monroe, to whom she bore a resemblance. She also maintained an Instagram account with 52,000 followers, which posted risque photos and linked to paid adult content, according to The Associated Press.
Robbins conceded that William was aware of the adult site and OK with it.
"He was aware there was this other lifestyle, and he wasn't jealous about it," he said.
Robbins said that William was honorably discharged and performed as a recruiter for the Army.
William was fired from his job after his arrest.
"He worked as a security officer at the Birmingham Southern College campus and on Friday he was terminated," said Robbins.
A spokeswoman at the college confirmed he had been fired.
Robbins emphasized that since his wife's death, Robbins emphasized that William has cooperated with the police and never changed his story.
"The police interviewed him and from day one he's maintained his innocence that he did not kill his wife," Robbins said.
Because of his clean criminal background, service to the country and duty to the couple's 12-year-old daughter, Robbins is planning to appeal the $500,000 bond.
"He can't make that," Robbins said bluntly. "It's a non-capital murder case and he's a man with ties to the community and no criminal record and this is all circumstantial evidence.
"The bond is out of line."
Before his wife was found allegedly bludgeoned to death with the bottle of liquor on the morning of Jan. 13, the Wests appeared to be happily married parents. The night before she was found dead, the couple enjoyed a date night with dinner and a nighttime liquor run, William West's attorney confirmed.
A clerk at the R&R Wine and Liquor store in Calera, Alabama, who gave only her first name Stacey, told ABC News she witnessed the surveillance footage from that evening, which appeared to show William and Kathleen West "in a good mood."
She also confirmed that Kathleen purchased a bottle of Lucid Absinthe that cost $74.99 and her husband purchased a $35.99 bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey.
"They both came in, bought what they bought and he even slapped her on the butt on the way out," the clerk told ABC News.
Robbins said that on the last night Kathleen was alive "there were no arguments."
William is due back in court on March 21.
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