Westchester cops last night were holding a man suspected of strangling his wife in Minnesota, burying her body in Tennessee and telling New York friends she died of a brain tumor.
Authorities said Jeffrey Lewis Thompson, 38, admitted that he killed his wife, Ruma, 26, in May, the Times-Free Press in Chattanooga, Tenn., reported.
He was stopped in Westchester on a traffic violation and was being held on misdemeanor charges while Minnesota cops investigate his wife’s disappearance, the paper said.
Authorities suspect Thompson throttled his bride after the two argued at a campground in Jordan, Minn., the paper said.
Thompson reportedly told cops he buried her on property he bought in Tennessee over the Internet three days after the slaying, using the alias Mark Miller.
Thompson then took the couple’s 14-month-old baby on a Montana rafting trip, allegedly telling other trip-goers that Ruma died of a brain tumor.
Other news reports said Thompson was in Westchester visiting friends from the rafting trip when he was pulled over.