A Las Vegas woman fatally shot her husband while he was on a phone call — and then tried to make it look like a suicide, police said.
Emily Ikuta, 37, is charged with murder in the March 22 shooting death of Jourell Ng, 36, at the couple’s apartment, where Ikuta told responding cops her husband shot himself, police said Thursday.
But an investigation ruled out suicide after an acquaintance of Ng’s told detectives they were on a “live chat” with him when he was murdered, according to an arrest report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“They informed detectives they heard [Ng’s] dog barking in the background of the call, prior to hearing a slapping noise they believed was a gunshot,” cops wrote in the report.
The person on the call with Ng then heard a yelp before complete silence, police said.
Detectives said Ikuta’s version of events did not match evidence at the scene. She told a police dispatcher she found her husband face down on the floor as she returned from walking her dog.
Ikuta said it appeared Ng had been shot, but a neighbor told cops they heard the couple arguing just before the gunfire, according to the arrest report.
Ikuta told investigators during a subsequent interview that Ng may have accidentally shot himself while cleaning a gun. She said she found a firearm on the floor near him and locked it in a closet, police said. The gun was later recovered.
Detectives also noted that there was no “large pooling of blood” where Ikuta said she found her husband on the floor. They also found gun-cleaning materials near Ng’s body that did not appear to have been used, police said.
Detectives believe the bullet that killed Ng also had a downward trajectory, contrary to Ikuta’s claim the gun fired as he was cleaning it at a shelving unit, according to the arrest report.
Ikuta remained held without bond Tuesday at the Clark County Detention Center. Her preliminary hearing has been set for April 8, online records show.
Ikuta’s attorney declined to comment on the case Monday, the Review-Journal reported.
