Gwinnett Woman Killed Stepfather, Claimed Suicide: Police

LILBURN, GA — A Gwinnett County woman is charged with murder after police say she shot and killed her stepfather, then attempted to make it look like a suicide.

Sandra Christine Olver, 54, of Lilburn, was arrested on Friday for the murder of Thomas Hall Gaines, Lilburn Police announced Tuesday. Police say the incident happened at the family's home on Lilburn Stone Mountain Road.

At 8:22 p.m. Thursday, police responded to a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the home. When officers arrived, Gaines was alive and bleeding from a gunshot wound to his mouth. He was pronounced dead at Eastside Medical Center at 8:56 p.m.

Gaines' body was released to the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy. But police say officers noticed inconsistencies between Olver's account of the shooting and physical evidence at the home. There was insufficient evidence to arrest her at the time, though, so she was allowed to leave, police said.

Then, at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Olver's daughter called police and reported that her mother was going to commit suicide. According to a police statement, when officers arrived and asked why she wanted to harm herself, Olver confessed that she had shot her stepfather.

Olver was taken into custody and charged with one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault.

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