Press Release  The death of a North Adams woman has been ruled a homicide

PITTSFIELD — The preliminary results of an autopsy on a North Adams woman indicate she died of loss of blood due to a stab wound to the torso; a contributing factor was multiple blunt force traumas to the head.

Dr. Robert Welton, an Associate Medical Examiner for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, conducted the autopsy on 42 year old Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien this afternoon in Holyoke and has ruled the death a homicide.

47 year old MARK S. STEELE-KNUDSLIEN has been arrested and charged with one (1) count of MURDER. It is alleged that he killed his wife whose body was found inside their Veazie Street North Adams home Friday evening.

STEELE-KNUDSLIEN will be arraigned on the murder charge Monday morning in Northern Berkshire District Court. He is being held without the right to bail pending his arraignment.

The investigation is being conducted by State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office, members of the North Adams and Adams Police Departments and the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services Section.

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