Police Say Woman Killed Husband, Then Called It Suicide

Images: above, Shutterstock; below, Liubov Volkova (GCPD)

BUFORD, GA -- A local woman is behind bars because the authorities have alleged that her husband's death last year, at first deemed a suicide, was actually a murder.

Liubov Volkova, 35, was arrested Friday and booked into the Gwinnett County Jail, charged with murder in the death of her husband, Jordan Whitson, according to a police statement.

A Gwinnett County grand jury indicted Volkova on June 22 on charges of murder, felony murder and aggravated assault, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported Wednesday. She's being held without bond, the Daily Post said.

Whitson, 38, died of a gunshot wound on the night of Nov. 1 in his Buford home.

Volkova called police to the scene, telling them that her husband had shot himself. But the police say they drew a different conclusion when the results of an autopsy came back from the Gwinnett medical examiner's office, and the lead detective on the case determined that the fatal gunshot had not been self-inflicted.

The chief county medical examiner reached the same conclusion, the Daily Post reported.

In a statement released by Cpl. Michele Pihera, a Police Department spokeswoman, the police described how the events unfolded on the night of the shooting:

Officers were dispatched shortly after 1:30 a.m. Nov. 1 to a call about a person shot at 2516 Hampton Park Drive. The caller, who was Volkova, told the dispatcher that her husband had just shot himself in the cheek.

Volkova met the officers at the door and told them where they could find her husband inside the home. They found Whitson on the stairs; he was unresponsive.

Members of the Gwinnett County Fire Department soon arrived, "and determined that Jordan had died as a result of his injuries," the police said.

Volkova told the police officers where she had secured the couple's gun prior to their arrival. The police did not identify the type of gun involved in the shooting, such as whether it was a handgun, rifle or some other type of firearm.

The officers also found the couple’s infant son and gave him to Volkova.

The victim’s body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy while the Police Department's Crime Scene Unit documented the scene.

The Gwinnett police said the lead detective continued to investigate the shooting after Volkova initially called them to her family's home. "Specific details learned during this investigation will not be released at this time," the police said in the statement.