A Monmouth County husband says he killed his wife in self-defense

☑️An attorney said Michael Kless killed his wife during a confrontation

☑️Prosecutors said Stacy Kless was found dead with a barbell over her throat

☑️Judge heard a text message in which Kless apologized to his children

OCEAN TOWNSHIP (Monmouth) — Michael Kless said he killed his wife, Stacy, in self-defense after an attack during a workout, his lawyer told a judge during his probable cause and detention hearing on Wednesday.

Stacy E. Kless was found dead inside her Ocean Township home on May 27 with a barbell over her throat. Michael Kless was arrested at a service area on the Garden State Parkway after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, according to police. There was Ambien and a bottle of tequila in the car, Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Michael Luciano told the court.

According to an email Kless sent to his children, he said Stacy told him 18 years ago she was no longer in love with him. It "deeply hurt him" and is something he never got over, his email says. Michael said in the message that the couple was lifting weights when she attacked him with two barbells, which pushed him over the edge.

“I’m sorry for everything. I have ruined everyone’s lives. I just hope you don’t hate me forever for this," Kless says in the email.

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Homicide was self-defense?

Kless' attorney, public defender Joshua Hood, told the judge that Michael had informed his wife that he was looking for a girlfriend and had begun a relationship with a woman he met on a fishing trip to Costa Rica. Stacy did not take it seriously and told Michael numerous times she wanted to kill him.

The couple remained married and were "essentially two roommates getting on as best friends publicly," according to Hood. They attended parties, interacted with neighbors, took vacations and babysat their grandchildren every Friday. Hood told the judge that Stacy's anger toward her husband was fueled by excessive drinking, which made her “mean" and emotionally abusive.

The morning of her death, Stacy struck Michael in the face with a barbell twice after he asked her to hand them to him during a workout in their basement gym,  according to Hood. Michael thought his wife was going to follow through on her threat and defended himself by choking her so hard that the "X" on the weight left an imprint on her face.

Michael pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and third- and fourth-degree weapons offenses. The judge ordered Michael to remain held at the Monmouth County Jail, reasoning that having a girlfriend in Costa Rica made him a potential flight risk.

A celebration of life for Stacy is scheduled for the Jumping Brook Country Club in Neptune Township on Thursday at 4 p.m.

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