Ex-Cop Murders Wife, Reports As 'Suicide' Days After She Requested For Vacating No-Contact Order

A former Georgia police officer who reported his wife's death as suicide has been sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of murder.

Michael Seth Perrault, a former officer at Eatonton Police Department, was found guilty Friday for fatally shooting his 44-year-old wife, Amanda Perrault, on Feb. 3, 2020. The 45-year-old ex-cop who was convicted on multiple charges including malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault, has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, Law & Crime reported.

After Amanda's death, Michael called 911 and reported his wife died by suicide at their bedroom in their Lake Oconee home in Eatonton. During an interaction with the cops, Michael was initially found to be avoiding all questions about his wife’s death and police searched the house.

Michael later claimed that while they were in bed, he argued with Amanda who suddenly took a handgun, looked him in the eye, and said: "I can’t take this anymore," before killing herself. He also claimed that he did not remove her body or touch the pistol.

However, during an investigation, the cops determined that Michael's claims were false. He was then arrested and terminated from the police department.

"It was absolutely obvious to me that Amanda Perrault could not have shot herself. The way her body was positioned, where the magazine was, where the pistol was — none of that could have happened with the blood that I mentioned on the floor. That was impossible. Somebody had to have taken the magazine from that pistol, move that pistol to the location it was, and had to have moved that body," Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sills who testified in court said.

A few days before Amanda's death, Michael was arrested on misdemeanor charges of simple battery for assaulting his wife on Jan. 28. However, Michael was later released on a $1,500 bail with the condition of no contact with his wife. After his release, Amanda had requested the judge to vacate the no-contact order since her husband had nowhere else to go.