Missouri Woman Shot Her Sleeping Husband In The Head Because 'Divorce Was Not An Option'

A Missouri woman will serve 10 years in prison after shooting her sleeping husband in the head

By
Melanie Biggins, 42
Melanie Biggins, 42 Jackson County Detention Center

A Missouri woman will serve 10 years in prison after shooting her sleeping husband in the head and being found guilty of murder.

Melanie Biggins, 42, received the sentence for shooting and killing her husband, Etienne L. McEwan, in 2022, The Daily Mirror reported.

According to court documents, Biggins told police that she had been in an intimate relationship with another man for about 18 months at the time of the shooting. "BIGGINS has also wanted to get a divorce from the victim but due to their financial struggles, that is currently not an option," the documents state.

Biggins implied to officers that the shooting was a suicide, telling them that she "woke up to the sound of a gunshot and noticed her husband was shot but did not see who did it," court documents state.

However, crime scene personnel determined the shooting was not a suicide based on physical evidence, including finding a pillow on the floor at the foot of the bed with apparent blood and a hole through it. Police found a projectile in the stuffing of the pillow and also located a blanket on the floor with a hole through it and apparent gunpowder burns around the hole.

"In the closet of the bedroom, an empty black handgun case for a Charter Arms .38 Special was located on the top shelf. In the next door room, a purple/black Charter Arms .38 Special, was located underneath a bunk bed. The firearm had one spent shell casing still inside of the cylinder in the top position," police reports state.

Police were first called to the home around 1 a.m. As officers arrived, the couple's two children, ages 10 and 11, were in the front yard waving for officers to come, police reports state.

Police went to the couple's bedroom and saw McEwan lying on the bed in a pool of blood with Biggins performing CPR.

Tags
Murder, Missouri, Shooting

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