A federal court in Kansas handed down a nearly quarter-century prison sentence on Wednesday to a woman convicted of killing her husband, a U.S. Army soldier, inside their home at Fort Riley.

She Pulled The Trigger in Front of Her Children

Margaret E. Shafe, 31, received 293 months—just over 24 years—after a jury found her guilty in February of second-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband, Greg Shafe. Prosecutors described the crime as both brutal and deeply scarring for the couple’s two young daughters, who were in the home when the killing took place. The fatal shooting happened in February 2024, when, according to court records, Margaret Shafe turned a gun on her husband and shot him in the face. Investigators later testified that the family’s daughters not only witnessed the aftermath but, in the case of one child, saw the moment their mother pulled the trigger.

Her Daughter Testified Against Her

“This was a horrific crime committed in the worst possible circumstances—inside a home, in front of children,” U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said in a statement after sentencing. “Margaret Shafe deserves to go to prison. The evidence in this case showed she murdered her husband while the couple’s two young daughters were in the home. The Court heard brave testimony from Ms. Shafe’s own daughter who witnessed her mother shoot her stepfather in a fury.”

Federal Investigators Worked On Their Case For Months

The trial was built on months of work by federal investigators. A joint team from the FBI, the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, and Fort Riley Fire and Emergency Services pieced together the events of that night. Prosecutors Sara Walton, Lindsey Debenham, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Graham presented the case, ultimately convincing jurors that the killing was intentional and not, as Shafe’s defense had suggested, an act of sudden panic or self-defense. Greg Shafe, the victim, served as a soldier stationed at Fort Riley, a major Army post in northeast Kansas. Friends and colleagues described him as a committed servicemember, and his death sent shockwaves through both the military community and the town surrounding the base.

Shafe Almost Barely Missed Receiving Life in Prison

Cases like this are rare but not unheard of on military installations, where federal jurisdiction governs violent crimes. By law, second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines and judicial discretion can shape the exact term. In Margaret Shafe’s case, the nearly 24-and-a-half-year sentence reflects the gravity of the crime while falling short of a life term.

Her Daughter’s Testimony Sealed the Deal

The story of the trial is also the story of its witnesses—particularly the children. Prosecutors underscored how unusual and harrowing it was for a young girl to take the stand against her mother, reliving what she saw that night in order to tell a jury the truth. That testimony appeared to leave a mark on both the jury and the judge, reinforcing the prosecution’s narrative that this was not an accident but an act of fury carried out in front of the very people the couple was supposed to protect. Shafe now faces decades in prison, with her daughters left to grow up carrying the memory of what happened inside their family home. For prosecutors, the sentence was a measure of justice for Greg Shafe and a reminder, as Kriegshauser put it, “that no one is above the law, not even within the confines of their own home.”