United States v. Mcrae

593 F.2d 700 (5th Cir. 1979)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D killed his wife Nancy by shooting her through the head with his deer rifle at point-blank range. D's sole defense at trial was that the shooting was not malicious but accidental. D and his wife were on strained terms. D admittedly made statements to various witnesses out of her presence that he meant to kill her. On at least one occasion he threatened to blow her brains out with the very rifle with which he later did so. On the day of her death, D made angry threats to kill her. D sent the children into the bathroom, he took down the rifle from its rack in the living room. He then procured a round of ammunition from the bedroom and returned to the living room, where his wife was sitting in a chair. While talking to her, he loaded the gun and worked its action, chambering the round. With the gun thus cocked and loaded, he started toward his wife in response, he testified, to her invitation to approach her. As he came on, the gun discharged, shattering her skull and killing her instantly. D ejected the spent cartridge, pocketed it, and drove with his gun to a neighbor's home two doors down, leaving his children in the bathroom. D appeared severely agitated, stated that his wife was 'not all right' and that he 'had to do it,' and asked the woman of the house to see to his children. He then drove to barracks and accosted a fellow M.P., stating that he had just killed his wife and suggesting that they have a beer. At trial, D objected in part to the photographs in evidence showing his dead wife and rebuttal evidence about his intimate relations with certain women. D was convicted and appealed.