Kemberlee Guffey stabbed her husband Padraic Guffey to death with a letter opener

Fatal Vows studies another case of extreme marital strife with the stabbing of Padraic Guffey by his wife Kemberlee in New Mexico in 2003.

The Guffeys were financially successful; Padraic was a pilot and owner of R.L. Guffey Drilling, they had one son, and to all intents and purposes, they should have had a happy, stable marriage. However, the Guffeys, who were known as Pad and Kem by friends and family, couldn’t keep their problems under the surface forever.

On May 31, 2011, Kem stabbed her husband once in the chest with a letter opener; she then dialed 911. When emergency responders arrived, Pad told them he had fallen on a branch. Meanwhile, Kem was already in the process of mopping up her husband’s blood. Responders had to tell marshals to keep Kem from interfering in their duties.

911 call convicted Kemberlee Guffey of killing husband

Kem, while on the phone to 911 operators, was clearly heard to say: “Please don’t send me to the cops. Say you fell, please. Promise me. Baby, I’m sorry! I have an emergency. Please hurry. I stabbed my husband.” Pad can be heard screaming, “get me an ambulance!”

Pad died two hours after emergency responders arrived at the scene. On hearing the recording from the 911 call Police immediately arrested and charged her with first-degree murder.

Kem later admitted to investigators that she and Pad had argued over accusations of infidelity, and they “had pushed it up a notch and crossed lines they never should.”

Kemberlee claimed self-defense

At trial, Kem claimed she had acted in self-defense after Pad had returned home in a rage. “I just reacted to Pad’s actions. I never expected him to die that day. I never expected what happened was even able to happen,” Kemberlee Guffey said.

“Pad’s temper always started out where he would break something to scare me,” she said. Defense lawyers argued that the single puncture wound received by Pad was more consistent with a defensive injury rather than a premeditated attack.

However, Pad’s mother, Allene Guffey, said at the trial, “Kem had hated my son for a long time. Kem told him at one time she wished he was dead. All Pad was to her was a money basket for her need.”

Kemberlee pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence and was sentenced to spend two years in prison followed by one year of probation.

Other crimes from Fatal Vows

Follow the links to discover more crimes from Fatal Vows, such as Tami Duvall, who cold-heartedly and callously slipped poison into her husband’s drink so she could claim a massive payout on life insurance. Or read about the former Sheriff’s deputy, Derrick Yancey, who formulated a devious plot to blame another man for shooting his wife.

Watch Fatal Vows at 8/7c on Investigation Discovery.