A Gwinnett County woman was convicted Friday of murdering her husband and claiming it was a suicide.
Liubov Volkova was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault in the death of Jordan Whitson in November 2015, according to a Gwinnett District Attorney’s Office news release.
Paramedics responded to the 2000 block of Hampton Park Drive in Buford and found Whitson near the bottom of some stairs dead from a gunshot to his right cheek, the release said. Volkova and their baby were the only people home.
Investigators believed the death was suspicious and later found the gun determined to be the murder weapon on top of a dresser in Volkova’s bedroom, the release said.
In a interview with investigators, Volkova said she and Whitson had just returned home from trick-or-treating with friends in Acworth, and she claimed to have not seen what happened, the release said.
She had no blood on her when police arrived, and she said she moved the gun when she found her husband near the stairs.
Several of Volkova’s friends told investigators the couple had separated at least twice during their relationship and had fought during their time trick-or-treating that night, according to the release. They said Volkova didn’t want to divorce him, since she needed him to bring her other son, a 10-year-old, from Ukraine to the United States, the release said. She also showed frustration about her husband’s gun collection and how much money he spent on it.
The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide because she noted the lack of gunpowder or burning around Whitson’s wound, the release said. The gunshot wound also occurred at a downward angle and was of indeterminate or distant range, the ME concluded.
None of the circumstances found by the medical examiner were indicative of either an accident or a self-inflicted wound, the release said. Gunshot testing was conducted by a retired New Jersey state patrol officer and firearms and ballistics expert, who determined the gunshot could not have been self-inflicted.
Volkova’s sentencing will be Aug. 20.
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