Husband faces murder charge after telling cops he didn’t shoot wife, WA sheriff says
A 55-year-old man was arrested on a second-degree murder charge two days after his wife died from a gunshot wound to the head in Washington, deputies said.
Dean M. Ayers called 911 around 11 p.m. on Jan. 18 and told deputies his wife had died by suicide, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 20 Facebook post.
When first responders arrived at the home, his wife was alive but had life-threatening injuries, deputies said. She was transported to a hospital where she died.
Deputies found the woman in her bed with a gunshot wound to her head and a pistol in her right hand, The Spokesman-Review reported.
Ayers told detectives the couple had a fight around 9:30 p.m. before going to bed, and when he went to the bathroom about 90 minutes later, she shot herself, the news outlet reported.
But deputies said Ayers gave statements to detectives that were inconsistent after they evaluated the scene, deputies said.
Two days after the woman died, Ayers was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, according to the sheriff’s office.
Ayers’ bail is set at $1 million. A preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 21.
This story was originally published January 21, 2022 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Husband faces murder charge after telling cops he didn’t shoot wife, WA sheriff says."
