Samuel Salem, 41, was shot and killed in his Stafford, Kansas, home on the night of March 10, 2016. He and his former wife, Misty R. Salem, were living together after he completed a drug treatment program; their relationship was described as troubled, with frequent confrontations and occasional violence. That evening the couple returned from a cookout where both had been drinking and got into a heated argument that turned physical. Misty Salem retrieved a pistol from a lockbox, re-entered the bedroom and fired one shot that struck Samuel in the neck. He staggered out of the room, collapsed, and was pronounced dead at the scene. One of the couple’s two children was in the home at the time.

Stafford police arrested Misty Salem at the house and officers recovered a firearm in the front yard. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Stafford Police Department conducted the investigation and she was prosecuted; a Stafford County jury found her guilty of second-degree intentional murder in July 2017 and she was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison. What additional information about that night or the people involved could help clarify what happened?