Beach man gets life for crossbow murder of wife

VIRGINIA BEACH

Kenneth Creamer, convicted in June of murdering his wife with a crossbow more than two years ago, tried one final time Monday to argue that it was just a hard-to-believe accident.

"I'm not a cold-blooded killer," Creamer told a judge, barely peering up from his handwritten notes. "It happened the way I said."

Creamer had claimed during his trial in June that his wife died in a "tragic accident" after he tossed a gift bag containing the loaded crossbow while she worked out on a treadmill.

The jury was not convinced. The Jan. 8, 2006, incident was the second time he claimed he had accidentally shot his wife with the bow.

"Obviously," Circuit Judge Frederick Lowe said, "the jury did not believe this killing was an accident, and having sat through the trial, quite frankly, and I have a hard time believing it."

Noting that Creamer took no responsibility or showed any remorse for his wife's death, Lowe ordered him to serve life in prison.

During the trial, prosecutors proved that Creamer intentionally aimed the crossbow and fired a hunting bolt into Anna Creamer's back as she worked out in the couple's garage in Courthouse Estates. The razor-edged tip pierced her heart and severed her aorta, stopping short of exiting through her chest.

On the witness stand Monday, Creamer blamed himself for having the crossbow. He stressed that he never touched it the day his wife was killed.

During his trial, Creamer testified that he thought his wife had given away the crossbow after he says it accidentally discharged in September 2005 while he was passing it to her. That time, a practice arrow grazed the special education teacher's chest.

Defense attorneys, who portrayed the killing as a classic example of lightning striking twice, asked the judge for leniency because Creamer had no criminal history.

Creamer said he hoped Lowe would give him a chance to deal with his health issues and rekindle a relationship with his son, Avery.

A witness testified at the trial that the boy did not want to have anything to do with his father. The boy was watching television in the living room when his mother was killed.

"He never said that," Creamer said Monday. "I'm his father. I would never hurt my wife or my son."

Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com