KC woman who claimed someone broke in and shot her husband charged with his murder

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Kansas City woman is charged with murder after prosecutors say she shot her husband in their bed, then hid the gun and pretended there had been a break-in.

Melanie Biggins, 40, is charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action. She remains in the Jackson County Detention Center on $50,000 bond.

Kansas City police responded around 1 a.m. Thursday to a home on Gillespie Place east of The Paseo in response to a shooting. When they arrived, they were directed to an upstairs bedroom, where they found Biggins attempting CPR on her dead husband, who was lying in a pool of his own blood in the couple’s bed, according to court documents.

Biggins told police she woke up to the sound of a gunshot and noticed her husband was shot, but did not see who fired the shot. She said the went downstairs and saw the front door was open, then got on the phone with 911 and started CPR on her husband Etienne McEwan.

Police said they found a pillow and blanket on the floor with a bullet hole in them, along with a bullet fragment. They also found a .38 Special handgun case in the closet and a purple and black .38 Special handgun underneath a bunk bed in the next room. Biggins initially claimed the only gun in the house was her husband’s rifle in the closet. When police confronted her about the handgun they found, she did not have an explanation, according to a probable cause affidavit that details the investigation.

When asked about her relationship with the victim, Biggins told investigators she and the victim were married, but “due to financial problems, she has been in an intimate relationship with another man for a year and a half,” court documents state. Biggins said she wanted to get divorced from her husband, but due to their financial struggles, that was not an option, the court documents state.

Detectives were able to trace the handgun back to records showing Biggins had bought the gun at Shop ‘N Pawn in Independence in July.

The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office determined McEwan died from a gunshot wound to the back of his head.

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