King County Sheriff Deputies on Tuesday arrested a woman on suspicion of murdering her husband nearly three years ago on Auburn’s West Hill.
The woman, 48-year-old Julie Ianniciello, was booked into King County Jail for investigation of first-degree murder.
According to the King County Sheriff’s office, Julie Ianniciello, then 46, allegedly shot her 47-year-old husband, Tom, in the head at close range while he lay sleeping in their bed, killing him. The shooting occurred on April 2, 2016 around 9:45 p.m. at the couple’s home in the 4000 block of South 340 Street in unincorporated Auburn.
The couple’s two children were waiting in a vehicle, which was running in the driveway with the radio on, at the time of the shooting, the KCSO said. The children later told detectives that their mother had been in the house alone with their father for 5 to 10 minutes before she came out. They said they left to pick up their older sister – the victim’s daughter from a previous relationship – from work, the KCSO said.
According to the KCSO, at about 10:50 p.m., Julie Ianniciello and her children returned to the house. She entered the house, found her husband dead in their bed and called 911, claiming their house had been burglarized. However, TV’s, electronics, cash and other items of value had not been touched.
Tom Ianniciello appeared to have been sleeping when he was shot, the KCSO said, and there were no signs of a struggle.
Detectives later learned that Julie Ianniciello had been having an affair at the time of her husband’s murder. Detectives found dozens of emails between her and her new boyfriend in the weeks leading up to the murder in which she discussed hatred for her husband and her plan to leave him the weekend that he was murdered, the KCSO said.
A forensic examination matched the spent casing found next to the victim to multiple, unfired bullets found in the home, suggesting that the firearm used to kill the victim had come from inside the home and had not been brought in by an unknown suspect, sheriffs said.
