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Police: Blue Ash man tells 911 he killed girlfriend after night of drinking

Posted at 11:14 PM, Mar 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-02 16:52:01-05

BLUE ASH, Ohio -- A Blue Ash man was arrested on homicide charges Wednesday night after a standoff with police and SWAT officers.

Court affidavits say 56-year-old Joseph K. Smith has been charged with murder after he called 911 at about 8 p.m. and told dispatchers that he’d killed his girlfriend after a night of drinking.

"I don’t know if I’m going to be alive when you get here,” the man told the 911 dispatcher, clearly distraught. “I don’t want to live! I did something bad."

Listen to parts of that 911 call in the player below. Warning: Graphic details may disturb some listeners.

According to a news release from the Blue Ash Police Department, Smith refused to come out of the home when officers arrived at the scene. He was arrested after an hour-long standoff involving a SWAT team. 

Police said the body of Diana Yuellig, 63, was discovered in the home on Classic Drive and confirmed that the pair knew one another. 

Authorities have recorded only four homicides, including this one, in Blue Ash since 2005. Each one, police said, was the result of a domestic dispute -- including the Jan. 4 stabbing death of 27-year-old Colleen Perry, whose boyfriend now stands charged with her murder.

"Our officers work tirelessly to ensure that the City of Blue Ash continues to be an extremely safe community, and unfortunately a tragedy of this magnitude can raise concerns for our citizens," Blue Ash Police Chief Paul Hartinger said Thursday. "This act and the recent death of another victim at the hands of her boyfriend are rare and do not reflect the safe neighborhoods of Blue Ash."

Smith was ordered held on a $500,000 cash bond Thursday morning in court.