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A 26-year-old woman was charged this week with the murder of her 92-year-old roommate in Maryland – who was a longtime family friend and award-winning sculptor, according to police and reports.
Julia Birch allegedly twice admitted to police on Wednesday that she killed Nancy Ann Frankel at their shared home in Kensington, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.
Frankel’s body was found inside the house by officers who responded at around 8:20 a.m. after Birch called 911 to report the death, police said.
Police have not disclosed how Frankel died, but according to prosecution documents cited by the Washington Post, she was allegedly suffocated.
Birch moved in with Frankel several months ago into what the victim’s family viewed as a mutually beneficial life situation.
“Even in our wildest imaginations, no one would have ever thought this could happen,” Frankel’s 66-year-old son-in-law Bill Streit told the newspaper.
Streit said Birch has known their family since she was a child.
“We saw her grow up,” he said.
One of Frankel’s neighbors, Julia Yost, told the Daily Beast that the elderly woman “was a wonderful person” who frequently displayed her artwork in the yard.
Frankel, according to his website, was represented by Studio Gallery in Washington, DC.
“She has made a huge contribution to our artistic community here at the Studio Gallery, and will be sorely missed,” director Kelly Bresnowitz told The Daily Beast.
“Our last show with her was last January, and having her work here was amazing.”
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