Yahoo Lifestyle She Didn’t Want to Pay for a Divorce. So She Shot Her Husband in His Sleep and Blamed a Home Invasion
Officers found Melanie Biggins performing CPR on her husband after she called 911 saying an intruder had shot him, police said
A Missouri woman who admitted to killing her husband because she couldn’t afford to divorce him has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
On Monday, Jan. 27, Melanie Biggins, 42, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the Aug. 31, 2022, slaying of Ettienne L. McEwan, online court records show.
When Biggins was arrested on August 31, 2022, she was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, according to charging documents reviewed by PEOPLE. In a plea deal negotiated with prosecutors, she agreed to plead guilty to the lesser count of voluntary manslaughter.
She faced life in prison if she was convicted of the original charges.
As PEOPLE previously reported, at about 1 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2022, Biggins called 911, claiming an intruder broke into the home she shared with McEwan and shot him while they were both asleep in bed.
Officers found Biggins performing CPR on her husband on the bed when they responded to the call.
Biggins told police she and Ewan were sleeping when she was awakened by a gunshot, according to a police report obtained by KMBC. She said she turned on a light and saw McEwan had been shot beneath his chin.
She said that when she ran downstairs, the front door was open, but she didn’t see anyone, KCTV reported.
But it was all a lie.
Her story started crumbling when officers began asking her what happened.
She had initially told police the only weapon in the home was her husband's rifle, according to a probable cause statement. But then she admitted that she bought a gun from a pawn shop, the probable cause statement said.
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Related: Missouri Woman Charged with Husband's Murder After Claiming an Intruder Broke In and Shot Him
Officers noticed a pillow and blanket on the floor with bullet holes in them, and then found a .38 Special handgun underneath a bunk bed in another room, authorities said, KCTV reported.
Finally, she admitted to the officers that she had been having an affair for the last year-and-a-half of her nine-year marriage,
She also expressed her desire to end their marriage but said she didn't have the money for a divorce, authorities said, KCTV reported.
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