The tree was still lit. The presents were still wrapped. The turkey was still in the oven. The wife called 911 to report that her husband had collapsed. The paramedics found a man with a gunshot wound to the chest. The wife said she heard a noise and grabbed a gun. She said she did not know it was him.

In this episode, I examine the case of a wife who murdered her husband on Christmas morning. The couple had been fighting for years. The wife had threatened to leave. The husband had threatened to take the children. The wife bought a gun two weeks before Christmas. She hid it in the garage. On Christmas morning, she waited for her husband to come downstairs. She shot him as he reached for his coffee. She then staged the scene to look like an accident.

The detective noticed inconsistencies. The wife's story changed three times. She first said she heard an intruder. Then she said she thought her husband was an intruder. Then she said she did not remember pulling the trigger. Gunshot residue was found on her hands but not on her clothing, suggesting she had washed up after the shooting. The wife was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Her children testified at sentencing. They said they would never celebrate Christmas again.

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the wife who murdered her husband on Christmas turned the most joyful day of the year into a lifetime of grief.

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