Man shot wife dead then falsely smeared her as a cheater who took her own life after he asked for a divorce: Cops

Inset (left): James Radford (Shawano County Sheriff's Office). Inset (right): Sabrina Radford (GoFundMe). Background: News footage of the Shawano County Courthouse in Shawano, Wis. (WGBA).

A Wisconsin man who claimed his wife turned a gun on herself is headed to trial after authorities said the evidence did not support his story.

James Radford, 40, was charged with reckless homicide last year in connection with the 2016 death of his wife, 25-year-old Sabrina Radford. According to a criminal complaint obtained by local NBC affiliate WGBA, James Radford told police on April 11, 2016, that Sabrina Radford shot herself in the chest after he told her he found out she was cheating on him. James Radford said his wife turned the gun on herself when he threatened to divorce her.

Almost a decade later, authorities said evidence told a different story, and determined that Sabrina Radford could not have shot herself.

According to reporting on the complaint by local Fox affiliate WLUK, James Radford told police that he and Sabrina Radford had an argument at their home in Fairbanks, Wisconsin, during which he confronted her about her infidelity. James Radford said he told his wife he was going to file for divorce. In response, James Radford claimed his wife then held a gun with both of her hands and fired a fatal shot into her chest.

The couple left behind a young daughter, and James Radford started a GoFundMe to raise money for her funeral expenses. Ahead of Sabrina Radford's funeral, James Radford wrote, "One can NEVER be prepared when someone we LOVE is taken from us so tragically."

Nine years to the day after Sabrina Radford's death, James Radford was arrested and charged with reckless homicide. The Shawano County Sheriff's Office said in a press release obtained by WGBA, "With the aid of advanced investigative tools, evolving forensic technology, and the involvement of expert witnesses, investigators determined that the death of Sabrina Radford was not the result of suicide."

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According to the complaint, investigators determined that there was no blood or evidence of blowback on the muzzle of the gun that supported James Radford's claim that his wife pointed the gun at her own chest and pulled the trigger. It was also determined that she was holding her phone at the time of her death.

Radford was taken into custody on April 11, 2025, and booked into the Shawano County Jail, where he has been held on $800,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to reckless homicide with a modifier for the use of a deadly weapon. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 6.