An Army wife who shot her husband in the head during a verbal argument at their Fort Riley, Kan., home and then fled with her children without calling emergency services, has been convicted of murder in federal court. (Fort Riley Public Affairs Office)
An Army wife who shot her husband in the head during a verbal argument at their Fort Riley, Kan., home and then fled with her children without calling emergency services, has been convicted of murder in federal court, according to court records.
Spc. Gregory Shafe, 35, had stayed home from a deployment to Poland with the 1st Infantry Division when he was shot Feb. 19, 2024, by his wife, Margaret Shafe, 31, according to court documents and the soldier’s obituary. He died the following day.
She was convicted Friday of second-degree murder following an eight-day trial in Topeka, according to court records. She had faced the charge of premeditated, first-degree murder.
Margaret Shafe, 31, was convicted in federal court Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, of murder for the death of her husband, Spc. Gregory Shafe, a supply specialist assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. (Shawnee County, Kansas Department of Corrections )
Margaret Shafe faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. She has been in Shawnee County Jail since May 2, according to online jail records.
During the February argument that began after 7 p.m., Margaret Shafe’s 9-year-old daughter was home, as was the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, according to court records. Investigators found an audio recording of the argument on the soldier’s phone, in which his wife is heard saying she hated him, and she hoped he would die.
The recording ended when another soldier came to the home to borrow a helmet. As Gregory Shafe exited the house to meet the other soldier in his driveway, Margaret Shafe followed him outside and continued to shout at her husband, according to a statement from the soldier to law enforcement.
“Within minutes of the co-worker leaving the residence, the victim is shot,” according to the court document.
Margaret Shafe, who had been drinking, then put her children in the front seat of her husband’s truck and drove from the home, according to the court document. She exited Fort Riley through a security gate, then immediately turned around and tried to re-enter the base, where she was stopped by security and eventually arrested.
Police were called to the home by the 9-year-old’s biological father, who lived in Nebraska, according to court documents. She placed a video call to him after the shooting and told him what happened.
After her arrest, Margaret Shafe told investigators that she believed her husband had been watching child sexual abuse material online, and she was concerned for her older daughter, who was the soldier’s stepdaughter.
Gregory Shafe had stayed behind from the deployment to support his wife, who was hospitalized in Kansas City for the end of her pregnancy, and then while their baby was in the neonatal intensive care unit.
District Judge Toby Crouse had scheduled a hearing March 12 to get a status update on the case. A sentencing date was not listed in online court records.
Army Spc. Gregory Shafe, 35, was shot and killed by his wife Margaret Shafe, 31, according to authorities. She was convicted Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, of second-degree murder. (Bath-Naylor Funeral Home and Crematory)
Gregory Shafe was a supply specialist who was assigned to Fort Riley in October 2022, according to the base. He enlisted in May 2022 and had previously served in the Arizona National Guard, according to his obituary.
Before that, he worked as a security guard at General Dynamics while attending the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, according to his obituary. He met Margaret Shafe through his security work and the two were married in July 2022.
