48 Hours on ID is in Maypearl, Texas, to investigate a murder mystery involving the death of Jon Garner, who was shot dead in his home just before midnight on New Year’s Day in 2018.
The suspicion quickly fell on his wife, Sandra Garner, and she was arrested a week after the murder and charged with killing her husband.
However, the prosecution was unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was the killer, and a judge ordered her release in October 2019.
In the early hours of January 2, 2018, Sandra Garner called the police to her home in Ellis County. The cops found a frantic Sandra, who led them to 42-year-old Jon, who had been fatally wounded by a single gunshot.
Sandra Garner said an intruder killed her husband Jon
Sandra explained to the cops that an intruder had shot her husband before explaining that he was a former disgruntled employee of Jon’s. The intruder then forced Sandra to empty the family safe of $18,000.
He then threatened her life and told her to hide before fleeing the scene.
Unfortunately for Sandra, the investigators decided that the intruder was a figment of her imagination, and they began to suspect her of murder.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelThe police had seized various electronic devices belonging to Sandra, and a search of the internet history revealed that someone had googled some fairly damning phrases, such as, “how to kill someone in their sleep,” “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught,” and “fentanyl.”
The investigators also recovered a .38 Taurus handgun from the scene, which had been hidden in a paper towel among a couple of plastic bags. Ballistic testing revealed that it was the murder weapon, and records showed that Sandra was the gun owner.
Despite this evidence against Sandra, she was acquitted and freed. At one point in the trial, her defense team established her son as a person of interest in the case. However, the murder of Jon Garner currently remains unsolved.
More from 48 Hours on ID
Follow the links to read about more murders investigated on 48 Hours on ID.
In a case going way back in time, 48 Hours took on the case of Lizzie Borden, who was accused of murdering her father and her stepmother in 1892. She was acquitted of the brutal ax murder after a jury of all men concluded that a woman wasn’t capable of performing such a horrific crime.
Haley Anderson was a nursing student at Binghamton University in New York state when her life was tragically cut short by ex-boyfriend Orlando Tercero. Tercero was angered that their relationship had ended, so he strangled Haley to death.
48 Hours on ID airs at 8/7c on Investigation Discovery.
It’s so obvious Sandra killed her husband. Justice was not served
The police found no gun in Sandra’s car on the first search because it wasn’t there. The son, Wes, went to the house at least once over the next three days, after which the gun magically appeared in the car. Because Wes put it there.
Sandra was the “only witness,” but Wes told the police interviewer she must be guilty, because “the dogs didn’t bark.” If Wes wasn’t there, how did he know the dogs didn’t bark?