A 26-year-old woman has been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of her 92-year-old roommate in Montgomery County, Maryland.
When Montgomery County police arrived at a home on Spruell Drive in Kensington Wednesday morning to investigate, they said that Julia Birch told them that she killed Nancy Ann Frankel.
Frankel was a noted local sculptor.
Police found Frankel in her bedroom of the home and called the homicide section about a possible murder.
Evidence recovered in the home supported Birch’s statement, a police news release said, and she was taken into custody to be interviewed.
Police said that Birch admitted killing Frankel and then calling 911 to report the death. Birch told detectives that she had suffocated Frankel before calling police Wednesday.
Police told WTOP that Birch was an acquaintance of Frankel’s family members, and that she had been paying Frankel rent and living in her home since January.
Birch is being held without bond.
WTOP’s John Aaron contributed to this report.
