A man implicated in the murder of a woman in Hernando has been released from medical treatment and is now in the Citrus County jail.

Arthir Neil Sputa Jr., 48, of 6036 N. Tsala Apopka Drive in Hernando, has been charged with second-degree murder in the the March 17 death of Sputa's girlfriend, Diane Bartlett, 59, also of Hernando.

Deputies found Bartlett's body behind the shed of the residence, and inside the shed found blood spatter and a rifle leaning against a table. Deputies also heard noises coming from inside the residence, and Sputa was found inside the door with a head wound to the inside of the mouth, later determined to be a gunshot wound.

After being read his rights, Sputa told deputies that he and Bartlett had gotten into a physical altercation, and that he began hitting her and then choked her. He also told deputies he had hit her hard enough to knock her out, and then pulled her to a place behind the shed of the residence. After being told that Bartlett was dead, the arrest report says, Sputa said, "If she' dead, it's by my hands."

Sputa was taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for his wound. While there, he was again read his rights. He told deputies again about what had happened, and added that he had shot himself after he saw what he had done to his girlfirend, the arrest report says. On a later occasion, Sputa was again read his rights and interviewed by deputies. Sputa added that the fight had ended right there at the residence's shed, and that he had killed Bartlett by "choking her out."

The arrest report adds that the medical examiner in Leesburg ruled that the cause of death was "homicide by undetermined means."

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