Woman, 53, accused of killing Wichita man before his birthday dinner

A 53-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of John L. Gaffney, a Wichita man who was found dead by friends picking him up for his birthday dinner last month.

Sedgwick County jail records show Sherry Wedel, 53, was arrested Tuesday and booked into jail at 3:23 Wednesday morning.

Gaffney, 67, was found dead in his home in the 4500 block of West 57th Circle North after Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies and Emergency Medical Services personnel were dispatched to an “unknown call” at around 3:15 p.m. Saturday, July 7, Lt. Tim Myers said. The house is near West 53rd Street North and Meridian.

Myers said Gaffney had injuries but did not elaborate. There was no sign of forced entry, he said.

Gaffney was a cab driver for Best Cab, Myers said, and had worked Thursday evening.

Myers said detectives thought he died sometime between Thursday and Saturday.

Some of the man’s friends went to his home Saturday — Gaffney’s birthday — to take him out for a birthday dinner, Myers said. When there was no response, they went into the home, found him and called 911.

A police report filed in the case lists his suspected time of death between just after midnight Friday to the time of the 911 call on Saturday.

No information has been released about the arrest or Gaffney’s death since July 13.

Detectives had been searching for Gaffney’s missing truck for five days. When they found it on July 13, they wouldn’t say where it had been located.

Gaffney and Wedel’s relationship is unknown at this time.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 10:29 AM.