INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — An Independence woman faces life in prison without parole following a jury’s guilty verdict in her murder trial.
Late Wednesday night the Jackson County Prosecutors Office said that Kirstin Stephens, 51, was convicted of first degree murder and armed criminal action for killing her husband, 65-year-old Charles Stephens.
Investigators said on March 7, 2014 Charles Stephens was found dead in his bedroom, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. Kirstin Stephens said she had been out most of that day and arrived home to find her husband dead.
However, when police interviewed her she gave inconsistent statements and admitted to an extra-marital affair. Court documents also say that surveillance video disputed where she said she had been that day, and the rifle used to kill her husband had her DNA on it, and nobody else’s.
Investigators also said several people had overheard her say that Charles Stephens was worth more to her “dead than alive.”
A judge will sentence Stephens on November 18, she remains in custody at the Jackson County Detention Center.
