'Not Adding Up:' Pottawatomie Co. Husband Accused Of Murdering Wife, Staging Suicide

A Pottawatomie County man who’s accused of shooting and killing his wife was charged with murder.

According to Tecumseh Police, Bradley Frye shot his wife Sara and staged her death to look like a suicide.

Officers responded to the couple’s home Friday to investigate a reported suicide. Police said the evidence did not match Bradley’s story.

According to officers, Sara was shot in the face. Investigators said a pump action shotgun was found lying behind her, and her wound had been packed with petroleum jelly.

Tecumseh Police raced to the couple’s home following a call to 911.

Dispatch: Have a report of a female suffering from a gunshot wound. 

Bradley's hysterical screams were captured on police body-worn cameras.

Police found Bradley at his wife's side. “Whenever we arrived, the suspect was attempting to perform CPR,” said Tecumseh Police Chief JR Kidney.

Despite authorities performing lifesaving efforts, Bradley pleaded with officers.

Frye: You guys aren’t compressing; you guys aren’t doing chest compressions!     

Frye: I got to go in there, bro! I got to go in there! It's my wife! She's laying in there man!           

Sara died 30 minutes later.

According to court filings, Bradley initially claimed, following an argument, Sara took her own life. But police say evidence indicated there had been a violent struggle. “The dining room table had been busted down, and there were chairs that had been overturned,” said Kidney.

According to investigators, Sara's father told police she was on meth and Bradley was schizophrenic. For those reasons, he said he removed his four grandchildren from their home earlier in the day. “Some things were going on in the home they didn’t feel the children needed to be there,” said Kidney.                

He returned to his daughter's home and found it surrounded by crime tape and police as Bradley was arrested.

Image Provided By: Pott Co. Police

Neighbors told police they often heard the couple fighting, and that they had been arguing in the minutes leading up to the shooting. 

Police said they recovered Sara's journal, where she indicated she planned to leave her husband due to him treating her poorly.

Frye is charged with first-degree murder.