The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/22/08
It's been three weeks, and still there are few clues in the mysterious slaying of a prominent developer's wife.
Eva Kay Wenal, a 60-year-old homemaker, was stabbed to death inside her Lawrenceville home, according to A.J. Block, an Atlanta attorney and friend of the family.
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There were no signs of forced entry to the couple's home in the upscale Sugarloaf Springs subdivision and nothing was taken — not even Wenal's expensive jewelry collection, Block said.
Wenal's husband, Hal Wenal, on Thursday announced that he is offering $100,000 of his own money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.
"He doesn't know what to do," said Block, who is acting as the family spokesman. "He has no idea, nor do I as a good friend of the family, as to who would do something like this.
Eva Wenal, who was known to friends as "Kay," had no enemies that her family was aware of.
Block said that Hal Wenal has been grief-stricken ever since May 1, when he arrived home from work to find his wife lying in a "swimming pool of blood." The couple usually kept to themselves and had only a few close friends.
"They absolutely adored each other," Block said. "I'll go ahead and answer your question — he didn't do it, and no, she didn't have a lover. They were like newly married kids who just got married."
Hal Wenal is a well-known shopping center developer. He is the president of Flexxon Operating in Sugar Hill, which boasts six shopping centers in the Atlanta area. He has built two retail centers in Lawrenceville: the Village Shoppes of Sugarloaf, at the intersection of Sugarloaf Parkway and Five Forks Trickum Road in Lawrenceville, and the Village Shoppes of Creekside, near the intersection of Duluth Highway and Ga. 316.
Flexxon Operating also has projects in Florida, New York, Illinois, Texas, California and the Carolinas, according to the company Web site.
Block said the Wenals had been married about 18 years. It was the second marriage for both. Kay Wenal has an adult son in Oregon and Hal Wenal has a daughter living in Florida, Block said. Both children are from the previous marriages.
Gwinnett police have not released any information about the cause of death, motive or possible suspects in the case.
"I can tell you Mr. Wenal has been very cooperative in the investigation," said Officer David Schiralli, spokesman for the Gwinnett County Police Department.
The Wenals' next-door neighbor, Som Sharma, said Hal Wenal ran to his home and asked him to call 911 on the night of the slaying.
Hal Wenal reportedly told Sharma that he called home around midday to invite his wife out to lunch, but she didn't pick up the phone.
"He came from work and when he opened his door his wife was lying in the kitchen," Sharma said. "On that day he was crying, 'Oh my wife, what happened? What happened to you?' "
Sharma said the fact that a killer has yet to be identified is particularly disturbing. His family is shopping for a new home security system.
"My wife and my children, they are very, very scared," he added.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact detectives at the Gwinnett County Police Department at 770-513-5300 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., and 770-513-5390 during all other hours, holidays and weekends.
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