A Utah woman who told police she shot and killed her husband in self-defense is now facing a murder charge.
Melissa Johnson-Fausett, 56, of Provo, was charged with the first-degree felony Tuesday in 4th District Court.
According to charging documents, Johnson-Fausett called police on Saturday to report that she had shot her husband in their Provo home “because he was beating her.” When officers arrived, they found Corry Johnson, 55, lying dead in a hallway outside a bedroom. He had been shot once in the left side and three times in the head.
Although Johnson-Fausett told police she’d been beaten, she “had no signs of injury,” according to the charging documents.
“The evidence currently available does not support the defendant’s explanation of events,” the documents state.
According to a probable cause statement, Johnson-Fausett told police her husband grabbed her by the neck, hit her in the head and threatened to kill her. She said she grabbed a gun near her in bed and shot him until he collapsed.
Police reported that one of the wounds to Johnson’s face had burn marks, indicating it was a “close-range shot,” according to the probable cause statement. Investigators also found “damage to the floor” beneath Johnson’s body, which investigators suspect indicated shots were fired from “directly above” him.
“After falling to the ground, there was no evidence of him moving to indicate that he was a threat to Melissa’s safety,” police wrote.
Investigators also found “no obvious blood” on the gun Johnson-Fausett said she used to shoot her husband. But they did find blood spatter on a second gun they found under clothing in the bedroom, according to the probable cause statement. Johnson-Fausett told police that blood was from “shooting rabbits in the desert at close range,” but police reported it later tested positive for human blood.
Johnson-Fausett is being held without bail in the Utah County jail.