WAUSHARA COUNTY (NBC 26) — A couple in the Town of Mount Morris say the 75-year-old who was found dead inside her home Sunday was their best friend.
Over the last five years, Joanne and Dan Hofer developed a close friendship with their next-door-neighbor, Patricia Glenn.
The couple identified Glenn as the victim stabbed to death by her grandson, 36-year-old Randy Jenks, who police arrested in Utah.
"There was nothing to in dicate on Thursday when we talked with her that he would have done that to her or thought about doing that to her," Joanne Hofer stated. She and her husband say they had planned to host a dinner with Glenn Friday night but had to re-schedule Thursday.
According to a criminal complaint, Jenks is facing a first-degree intentional homicide charge after he told family members that he had stabbed Glenn in the neck and fled the state out of fear.
"I stabbed grandma in the living room, on the floor," the complaint said Jenks admitted. He said she had "pushed him too far."
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The Hofers say Jenks had been living with Glenn in a home owned by Glenn’s daughter on Strawberry Circle.
The daughter called Waushara County police for a welfare check on Glenn Sunday, who the Hofers say had stopped answering calls and texts Saturday.
When Glenn stopped responding to their messages, "Me and Dan knew already that something was wrong," Joanne Hofer explained.
Jenks was arrested in Ogden, Utah. A warrant for his arrest in Wisconsin remains active.
Glenn moved to Wisconsin from Utah about five years ago, according to the Hofers. Glenn's grandson moved in with her over a year ago, when Jenks' living arrangement with his mother "didn't work out," the Hofers said.
"She [Glenn] never told us she was afraid, ever, of him," the Hofers stated.
They say they will remember Glenn as a generous and family-oriented friend.
"Just a really fun person, and not to have that anymore is going to be tough," remarked Joanne Hofer.
"It should have never happened," added Dan Hofer. "It didn't have to be that way."
