WINTER PARK, Fla. — The wife of a University of Central Florida program director and former professional sports executive has been charged with his murder.
Michael Redlick, 65, was found dead on the morning of Jan. 12 at a home on Temple Drive in Winter Park. Investigators said at the time that they were investigating the death as suspicious.
According to an arrest affidavit, Winter Park police believe Danielle Redlick fatally stabbed her husband during an argument. They said she tried to clean up and tampered with the evidence. The affidavit said Danielle Redlick waited 11 hours to call 911, and when she did, she claimed her husband had "stabbed himself" and “might have had a heart attack."
Danielle Redlick went on to say "We had an altercation and he stabbed himself and I ran and hid in the bathroom."
Redlick, 45, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. She was arrested last month on a probation violation stemming from a disorderly conduct arrest and had been out of jail on bond.
Michael Redlick was the director of external affairs and partnership relations for the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the UCF College of Business.
Before being hired at UCF, Michael Redlick spent over 20 years working as an executive for a handful of professional sports teams. He previously worked in the front office for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns and the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Police arrived at the couple’s home on Jan. 12 and found Michael Redlick just inside the front door with blood on his jeans. There was blood in the foyer and detectives said circular marks in the blood indicate that someone had tried to clean it up. The arrest affidavit notes there was a strong smell of bleach in the home and a mop near the stairs had blood on it. The affidavit said there was a large serrated knife with blood on it on the floor, and three kitchen knives in the sink that also appeared to have blood on them, the affidavit said.
During an interview with the Department of Children and Families, Danielle Redlick said she had been in the kitchen eating a McDonald’s hamburger when Michael Redlick got angry, took a bite of the burger and then spit it in her face, records show. During the ensuing fight, Danielle Redlick said she grabbed a kitchen knife and held it in a motion that looked as though she was going to stab Michael Redlick. She said her husband grabbed the knife from her and began “making stabbing motions toward himself.”
Danielle Redlick said she ran into a bathroom, shut the door and sat on the floor. She said she opened the bathroom door “after awhile” and spotted blood on the floor. When she followed the blood trail, she found her husband in the living room, she said. She also said she tried to find her phone, but kept “slipping in the blood.”
She said she attempted CPR, but eventually became exhausted and collapsed. During the interview Danielle Redlick recalled lying next to her husband and thinking “what am I going to do?”
During the 911 call Danielle Redlick made at about 9:30 a.m., she told a dispatcher the fight with her husband occurred around 10:30 p.m. the night before.
According to the affidavit, the medical examiner ruled Michael Redlick’s death a homicide and indicated that his stab wound was not self-inflicted.
Danielle Redlick told police she and her husband had exchanged text messages before they got into the fight. The affidavit said it appears those text messages had been deleted, but police did find a dating app called Meeting Mindful on her phone. According to police records, Danielle Redlick reviewed messages on the dating app about two hours before she dialed 911.
During their investigation police interviewed multiple people who knew the couple. One of the witnesses told police that he had previously spoken to Michael Redlick about his marriage. The witness said Redlick had described the situation as not good. According to the witness, on at least one occasion, Michael Redlick said his wife “is crazy but as long as I hide the steak knives I should be good.”
Police said the witness statement was made before any information about Michael Redlick’s cause of death had been released.
Redlick appeared before a judge on Thursday, She is being held without bond for second degree murder and barred from having unsupervised contact with her children.
