The Delaware State Police announced the arrest of a Wilmington woman in connection with a 2023 homicide in Dover following a lengthy investigation by the agency’s Homicide Unit.
According to police, 46-year-old Krista Rule of Wilmington was taken into custody on January 7, 2026, after being indicted by a Kent County grand jury on charges stemming from the death of her mother, 72-year-old Denise Wood. The indictment was returned on January 6, 2026, following what investigators described as a thorough and detailed investigation.
Troopers originally responded on June 25, 2023, to a residence on Case Ridge Road in the Wolf Creek area of Dover, where Wood was found deceased inside a bedroom. The Delaware State Police said the Homicide Unit assumed the investigation and determined that Wood died as a result of stab wounds. As the investigation progressed, detectives identified Rule, the victim’s daughter, as the suspect in the case.
Following her arrest, Rule was transported to Delaware State Police Troop 2, where she was formally charged with first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. Authorities said she was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Delores J. Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution on a $2.1 million cash bond.
