NJ Woman Admits To Christmas Shooting Of Husband After Assault

MAYS LANDING, NJ — A Mays Landing woman admitted to shooting and killing her husband after an argument where he physically assaulted and threatened her on Christmas Day in 2022, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said.

Marylue Wigglesworth, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of David Wigglesworth, then 57, authorities said. Her recommended sentence is six years in New Jersey State Prison, and she will have to serve 85 percent of that sentence before she is eligible for parole.

Just after 10 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2022, Hamilton police responded to a home on the 5200 block of Mays Landing Somers Point Road for a report of an injured man, officials said.

David Wigglesworth was found with a gunshot wound, officials said, and was pronounced dead on the scene.

An autopsy confirmed that his cause of death was a single gunshot wound and the manner of the death was homicide.

During her guilty plea, Marylue Wigglesworth said that just prior to the shooting, she and her husband had been arguing, officials said. Her husband had physically assaulted her and threatened her with a firearm that he kept in their bedroom, she told officials.

Immediately after that threat, Marylue Wigglesworth shot her husband with that same firearm, officials said.

During the investigation into the homicide, officials documented "significant bruising" on Marylue Wigglesworth's body, which were consistent with being the victim of an assault, according to authorities.

Her sentencing is set for Aug. 20.