Man accused of killing girlfriend because she was ‘nagging’ him, police say

MESA, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) - An Arizona man is facing a murder charge after allegedly shooting his girlfriend.

KPHO reports that officers were called to a home in Mesa Tuesday afternoon regarding a shooting.

Police said 48-year-old Timothy Staufenbeil reported that he was cleaning his gun when he accidentally shot his girlfriend. First responders found a woman sitting on a couch inside the home dead from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.

During an interview with investigators, Staufenbeil reportedly changed his story about what happened.

Staufenbeil told investigators he came home that day and saw his girlfriend sitting on the couch holding a gun to her head. He rushed toward her to take the gun away, but it went off.

However, according to court documents, Staufenbeil admitted to a friend that the woman had been “nagging him and carrying on for a couple of days” so he got up and shot her in the back of the head while she was sitting on the couch.

Police said this friend also reached out to them and said Staufenbeil was talking about killing himself.

Officers recovered a handgun from the kitchen and a single shell casing near the woman’s body. Staufenbeil was booked for second-degree murder.

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