Woman, 52, allegedly killed husband

During a preliminary hearing Thursday before Judge Jay C. Sheffield, bond for Kristina Lynn Welch, 52, the woman accused of fatally shooting her husband, Charles Bryan Welch, 50, was set at $500,000.

Welch was scheduled for a hearing 9:30 a.m. Friday, but the action Thursday pre-empted that process.

“That date (Friday’s hearing) is really a trigger action,” explained Lincoln County Attorney Bernard Cassidy of the early action. “It’s really scheduled to move the process along.”

At 10:30 a.m. Monday, Welch had not made bond, as she still was incarcerated in the Lincoln County Jail.

Welch is accused of fatally shooting her husband, Bryan, at their home at 4410 Granite Lake Road on Dec. 8.

   She is scheduled to appear in before Judge James Wheelis in District Court at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 12 to discover probably cause.

   “It’s something that will be done within 20 days,” Cassidy said.

   Law-enforcement officials have been tight-lipped about the ongoing investigation. However, it is known that Welch waited some time before calling 911 at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8. Police have not pinned down an exact time of the shooting, but the county’s top law-enforcement officer, Roby Bowe, has indicated Welch “… had been deceased for some time” before the call was made.

   It is alleged Welch used a Smith & Wesson revolver to shoot her husband. A caliber of the handgun has not been disclosed.

   Bowe said his officers are familiar with the Welch home as law enforcement had been summoned for other matters.

   “There had been right-of-way and snow-plowing problems with neighbors,” Bowe said previously.

   The Welch home is on the north side of Granite Lake Road with a driveway on the eastern edge of the property. A neighbor’s driveway is immediately adjacent to the Welch driveway and property line.