DMN

The murder suspect threatened to jump from an overpass.

CARROLLTON — A man accused of fatally beating his ex-wife and then threatening to jump off a highway overpass was taken into custody Monday morning, police said.

At about 9:30 a.m., a motorist notified police to say a man standing on the Bush Turnpike overpass looked like he was about to jump, Carrollton police Sgt. John Singleton said.

Police negotiated with the man for about an hour before taking him into custody. His name has not yet been released.

The incident caused authorities to shut down the Bush Turnpike as well as a portion of Interstate 35E in the Carrollton area.

Dallas police said the man was accused of beating his ex-wife earlier in the day in the 12700 block of Hillcrest Road where she worked. The Dallas office was not open at the time, but a co-worker said it appeared the man had been waiting for her.

Another person followed the attacker from the office and was able to provide police with a vehicle description.

A doctor, whose identity is being withheld because the woman’s family members have not been notified, said the woman has worked for him for many years.

“She was a wonderful employee,” the doctor said, still shaken by the news Monday afternoon. “I’m just broken-hearted.”

The woman was divorced and had several children. They smiled from photos tacked over her desk inside the glass and stone office building.

Outside the door, a cleaning crew scrubbed blood from the carpet.

The doctor said he learned of the attack when he arrived for work about 9 a.m. “I knew he was upset about the divorce,” he said, “but I wouldn’t have thought he was this violent.”

“She was just a very reliable, kind person,” he said. “Everybody that came in here, the patients all enjoyed her.”

Dallas Morning News staff writers Kimberly Durnan and Steve Thompson contributed to this report.