Collier detectives: No proof of motive in North Naples murder-suicide case

Michael Bitterman killed his wife, and detectives might never know why.

In November, six months after Barbara and Michael Bitterman were found dead in their home in the Collier's Reserve community in North Naples, Collier County Sheriff’s Office detectives closed the murder-suicide investigation without finding proof of a motive for the killings.

 Michael Bitterman shot his wife before shooting himself, according to reports.

A Collier's Reserve maintenance worker found the bodies May 31 when he went to their home to retrieve the mail and check on the house. The couple were supposed to have left on a trip the day before they were found.

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Sheriff’s Office reports detail a number of possible factors. Family members and friends told detectives the Bittermans were having marital problems and that Barbara Bitterman was considering a divorce. A detective wrote in a report that one family member said the woman “began to fear” her husband. 

According to the Sheriff’s Office, everything friends and relatives said about the marital problems is hearsay, but investigators heard from enough people to believe the problems were a possible reason for the killings. 

Investigators said they interviewed Michael Bitterman’s children, and they said they weren’t aware of any problems. Barbara Bitterman didn’t have children. 

Some relatives and friends of the Bittermans could not be reached to comment.

Clayton Jeffery-Nugent, Barbara Bitterman’s brother-in-law, sent an email statement:

“Let’s put it like this, Michael Bitterman killed Barbara — that is the fact, that is the statement. He took the life of a wonderful, caring person. He took away a 93 year old (sic) Mother’s precious daughter and left her broken. There will be no more flowers from her daughter to brighten her room and no more visits.”

According to reports, a friend of the couple told detectives Michael Bitterman planned a monthlong European cruise with his wife “to repair their marriage.” 

The same friend told investigators that Michael Bitterman had been diagnosed with a heart condition, the reports state. He told the friend he was planning to have surgery when the couple returned from the cruise. A voicemail message left for the friend was not returned.

Investigators said they don’t know how Michael Bitterman went from planning a future to killing his wife. Nothing in the reports indicates the murder-suicide was planned.

Barbara Bitterman’s slaying devastated family and friends in Collier County and in Lake Placid, New York, where she grew up. They wonder how the man who was supposed to protect and love her could take her life. 

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