Photo: Amber Lea Runau
A 22-year-old Gassville woman charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a close family friend has been found mentally fit to proceed.
Activity in the case against Amber Lea Runau was suspended in May, and she was committed to the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) “for detention, care and treatment until restoration of her fitness to proceed” is attained.
She was returned to Baxter County and booked into the detention center just before 3 p.m. Tuesday. Her bond is set at $1 million.
Runau’s defense attorney can challenge the findings, but won’t make that decision until he has had time to go over the documents, which were just received earlier this week.
Runau made a brief appearance during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday by video hookup from the county jail.
A new scheduling order for her case will be drawn up, according to Circuit Judge John Putman.
Runau called 911 on Aug. 17 last year to report she had stabbed then 72-year-old Sharon Gayle Adler in the chest with a large kitchen knife.
Adler was reported to have been a longtime family friend and to have been a babysitter for Runau and her older sister, Anna.
Amber Runau has entered a not guilty plea to the charges against her stemming from the stabbing.
When she called authorities, Amber Runau was reported to have said she became upset when she could not “fix” a picture frame and took her anger out on the victim.
Runau remained on the phone with 911 and was told to leave the house, located along Elm Street in Gassville, and go out onto the driveway to meet officers, which she did.
According to the probable cause affidavit, officers said she told them her story in a matter-of-fact tone. She was said to have described the events leading up to the stabbing and the event itself. Runau’s statement contained one macabre detail. She told investigators she had watched the victim’s eyes, as she died.
When officers went into the home, they found Adler sitting in a recliner with the kitchen knife protruding from her upper left chest area.
Amber Runau’s sister, Anna, is an inmate in the Wrightsville Women’s Unit of the state prison system. She is serving a 20-year sentence for attempted murder.
Photo: Anna Renae Runau
In May 2016, Anna Runau pled no contest to charges she lured a Salem man to Lake Norfork, where she is reported to have stabbed him seven times.
Authorities said Anna Runau and a juvenile accomplice planned to steal the man’s truck and drive to Indiana.
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