King County deputies arrest woman in 2016 murder of her husband

AUBURN, Wash. -- Deputies on Tuesday arrested a King County woman they say shot and killed her husband nearly three years ago.

According to the King County Sheriff's Department, the woman went inside the home around 9:45 p.m. on April 2, 2016 and shot her husband once in the head while he was asleep. The couple's two children were outside waiting in the car listening to the radio. The woman got into the car and went to pick up her third child from a previous relationship.

An hour later, investigators say the woman called 911 to report that she found her husband dead inside the home on 340th Street in unincorporated Auburn. She also claimed that the home had been burglarized, but deputies said valuable did not appear to have been taken.

Deputies said the man appeared to have been killed while he was asleep as there was no sign of a struggle.

Detectives said they discovered the woman was having an affair at the time of her husband's murder. They said they found dozens of emails allegedly discussing her "hatred of her husband" in the weeks leading up to the killing.

"A spent casing found next to the victim was forensically matched to multiple unfired bullets found in the house, suggesting that the firearm used to kill the victim came from the house, not brought in by an unknown suspect," deputies wrote in a news release.

The woman was booked into King County Jail for investigation of 1st-degree murder.

“This is just another example of the outstanding work our Detectives continue to do day in and day out for victims and their families in their quest for justice.,” said Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht. “This is the second cold case that Detectives have been able to solve and the second arrest in the past six weeks.”