GILBERT, Ariz. (TCN) — A 52-year-old woman will spend two decades behind bars for killing her husband, who was found deceased under a bed.
According to a June 16 news release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Ivanka Koleva pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in connection with the death of her husband, Stefan Koleva, and she received a sentence of 20 years in prison.
In November 2023, Gilbert Police performed a welfare check on the victim after one of his adult children came to town for Thanksgiving but hadn’t seen him for days. Inside the residence, officers reportedly discovered Stefan Koleva deceased underneath a bed and wrapped in plastic. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and a stab wound.
According to the attorney’s office, Stefan Koleva’s children said their mother “had been acting strangely over the last several days and asked them not to go inside the home.” The children also said the defendant had recently been in a vehicle crash, “which they believed was a suicide attempt.”
Police obtained surveillance footage from a neighbor’s home that revealed Ivanka Koleva and her husband entering their residence a few days prior. Prosecutors said Ivanka Koleva was “then seen coming and going, but the victim was not seen again.”
Investigators suspected Koleva had cleaned the crime scene, hidden her husband’s items, and tried to fix a bullet hole in the bedroom door. Officers recovered the weapon reportedly used to kill the victim inside the car the defendant was driving when she was involved in the crash.
In a statement, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said, “This wasn’t just a murder — it was a betrayal that shattered a family. These children came home to see their parents and instead discovered a crime scene. No one should ever have to endure that kind of horror, especially at the hands of their own mother.”
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