Georgia woman accused of killing husband claims she tried to stop him shooting himself – prosecutors say she rigged a ‘booby trap’ for him

A Georgia murder trial is now presenting two very different versions of how a husband died to a jury. The prosecution say Lacy Jolee Boles set up a crude “booby trap” to know when her husband came home before shooting him. The defence, on the other hand, say she was attempting to stop him from killing himself.

As per Court TV, Boles, 43, has pleaded not guilty to the malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault charges relating to the death of her husband Daniel Akers, 36, in December 2019. During opening statements in Dallas, GA, prosecutor Jason Treadaway described the marriage as one that was full of arguments, with money being a major source of contention as Christmas approached.

The couple reportedly had a very heated argument on Dec 21 2019 about money. Boles told the investigators that Akers had choked her and taken her phone during the argument and then left the house and went to a local bar.

There’s a disagreement over the purpose of the alleged “booby trap”

But the prosecutors allege she was waiting for him when he came back. While Akers was out there, Boles reportedly had a Swiffer mop propped up against the front door so that it would fall over when the door was opened. That was supposed to be a way of alerting her as soon as her husband came back.

Akers reportedly returned around midnight with a bag of McDonald’s food. Prosecutors say opening the door knocked over the mop, alerting Boles to his arrival. They allege that she then went down to the basement and shot him once in the face with a .22-caliber pistol her father had given her.

“The first thing Dan Akers encounters when he goes up and goes in the door, he encounters a booby trap. Set by her,” Prosecutor Jason Treadway reportedly said in court, pointing at Boles.

The defence has a completely different version of events. Defense attorney Brian Steel did admit that Boles had left the mop by the door, but gave a very different reason for doing so. She’d texted Akers saying she didn’t want him to come home as she was going to file for divorce. The mop was just a way of knowing whether he’d ignored her text.

Steel says Boles went down the stairs with her husband to have a chat and found him with a gun to his head. According to the defence version of events, Akers was said to have told Boles that no-one could help him. Steel’s version is that Boles panicked and reached for his arm which caused a struggle in which the gun went off by accident.

The trial has gotten delayed

Prosecutors don’t accept that explanation. They highlight the inconsistencies in Boles’ original statement (she said Akers had the gun in his left hand, even though he was reported to be right-handed). The weapon was found close to his right side and that’s what the prosecutors are pointing to as being inconsistent with the defence version.

The trial has also been delayed following a prospective juror who reportedly went online to do some research into the case. As the trial proceeds the jurors will have to assess the conflicting versions of events and the forensic evidence in order to determine whether the prosecution has proven that Akers was murdered or whether his death was the result of an accidental shooting in the course of a struggle over the gun. Boles is still presumed innocent until she is proven guilty.