88-year-old husband shoots wife in back of head, stages it as suicide, Florida cops say

A husband shot his 76-year-old wife in the back of the head and put the gun in her hand to make it look like a suicide, Florida authorities said.

To sell the story, 88-year-old Miroslav Maksic then called their friend to say his wife, Miljka, had killed herself, then the friend called 911, the North Port Police Department said in a Jan. 28 news release.

The evening of Jan. 25, the Maksics had their longtime friends, a married couple, over for dinner, and the friend later told police everything seemed fine at the time, according to a Sarasota County probable cause affidavit.

The couple left at about 10:30 p.m., but four hours later, Miroslav Maksic called them, police said.

The friend told police she missed the first call, but she picked up a second time 15 minutes later to hear Maksic say his wife had shot and killed herself.

The friend then called 911, according to police.

First responders arrived to find Miroslav Maksic gone and the house locked, but they could see Miljka Maksic dead on the floor through the window, according to the affidavit.

They forced their way inside and reported discovering her near the living room lying in a pool of blood with a revolver in her left hand.

But the friend told police Miljka Maksic was right-handed, the affidavit says.

Miroslav Maksic came home after officers had already gone inside and he “appeared to be in a state of confusion,” and changed his story multiple times, police said.

The medical examiner found that Miljka Maksic appeared to have been shot twice: once in the left side of the head and once in the back of the head, the latter being the shot that killed her, according to investigators.

“It’s worth noting the firearm was discovered in the decedent’s left hand, which is inconsistent with the path of the fatal projectile,” police wrote.

Investigators concluded Miljka Maksic couldn’t have fired the deadly shot.

“It was determined that the victim’s death was not the result of a self-inflicted injury, and elements of the scene had been staged by the suspect,” police wrote in the news release.

Most of the interview with Maksic is redacted from the affidavit, but he’s now charged with second-degree murder without premeditation.

North Port is about a 40-mile drive southeast from downtown Sarasota.

This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 12:34 PM with the headline "88-year-old husband shoots wife in back of head, stages it as suicide, Florida cops say."