WOODBURY, N.J. (AP) - Prosecutors say a New Jersey man beat his wife to death, dumped her body in their backyard swimming pool and then drove to a local restaurant in an attempt to cover up the killing.

In an announcement Wednesday, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office says 51-year-old Norman Long has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, 47-year-old Michelle Long.

Prosecutors say Long told first responders in June his wife drowned in the pool at their Woolwich Township home. However, an autopsy determined her cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Long has been committed to a state psychiatric hospital following his arrest Tuesday after prosecutors say he threatened suicide.

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