Police charge husband with murder in wife's death
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - On March 5, police found the body of Andrea Wiggins in the hot tub at her Springfield home. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Friends and family from across Oregon mourned Wiggins, who ran an arts center in Baker City, Ore., in the 1970s and later worked for the University of Oregon, the Eugene Celebration and the City of Eugene. She was 62.
Then on Thursday night, police arrested her husband William Murray Wiggins, 61, and charged him with her murder. Early Friday afternoon, Wiggins pleaded not guilty to the charges at an arraignment in the Lane Co. Jail.
Police said an autopsy found Andrea Wiggins died from homicide.
The Wiggins married in Eugene in 1997.
According to her obituary in the Baker City Herald newspaper, Andrea Wiggins was born Oct. 25, 1947, in Seattle to Jack and Shirley Nicholson.
She held a bachelor's degree in speech and drama from the University of Oregon at Eugene and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Oregon State University at Corvallis.
She worked as an assistant dean in the Office of College Advancement at the College of Education at the UO. She previously worked as corporate relations manager for the city of Eugene, marketing director for the Eugene Celebration and owned a fabric store.
Andrea worked part-time as the Crossroads director in the 1970s and worked tirelessly to increase the membership of Crossroads.
She was also very active in theater, working with many others on all the early productions that helped Crossroads become such an integral part of the community. Andrea taught acting, built sets and starred in many of the productions.
This is breaking news. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
