Man charged in killing had made threats before

Thursday, Nov. 11, 1999 | 10 a.m.

Officers found Lester Herman, 69, sitting at his kitchen table Tuesday afternoon still on the telephone with police dispatchers. His 68-year-old wife, Shirley Herman, was dead in a recliner in front of a TV set.

His children signed district court papers for an emergency committal four years ago after he stalked his daughter, threatened to kill his wife if she divorced him and then kill the rest of his family, police said on Wednesday.

They added that they received numerous complaints from Lester Herman between 1989 and 1995 about family disturbances and burglaries.

After Herman received mental health treatment in 1995, the phone calls to Reno police stopped, until Tuesday when he called dispatch to tell them he had killed his wife.

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