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Man Accused Of Killing Wife Says He Shot Her With Three Different Guns After Bullets ‘Didn’t Faze Her’
Edward Pautenis admitted in a jailhouse interview to repeatedly shooting his 29-year-old wife Jennifer Pautenis before dumping her body in a field.
A Texas man accused of killing his 29-year-old wife said in a new jailhouse interview that he shot his EMS dispatcher wife multiple times with three different guns after the initial bullets “didn’t even faze her.”
Edward Pautenis, 59, told local station WFAA that he killed his wife Jennifer Pautenis after the pair got into an argument in October at their home. He claims she attacked him, telling the station “all this happened like this,” while snapping his fingers.
“So I bam, bam, bam, shot her. That didn’t even phase her,” he said in the chilling interview.
After she didn't die immediately, he ran to the laundry room, got a .22 caliber rifle and continued to fire shots at her, he said.
“And I don’t know if I shot two bullets but it jammed up,” he said.
Edward said he finally had to get a third gun to finish the job.
"The more she kept coming at me and I just sat there and shot her. Pow pow pow,” he told the station.
The couple’s young children—ages 5 and 7—were at home during the slaying but Edward said he told them the gunshots had been part of a Halloween prank and then put them to bed before taking his wife’s body and dumping it in a field.
“I pushed her off. I just wrapped her in something and pushed her out of the van,” he said.
Her distraught family filed a missing persons report days after she disappeared but have been left for months wondering where their loved one is.
Just last month, her sister Daisy Thorton-Newhouse told Dateline that despite her efforts to find her younger sister, she was concerned Jennifer had met with foul play.
“To be honest, I don’t think we’re going to find her alive,” Thorton-Newhouse said. “I think we’re going to find her body. And it breaks my heart every time I think about it.”
Edward initially told authorities that Jennifer had left the couple’s Granbury home on Oct. 20 while he was putting their children to bed. He claimed she'd left him for another man, but the story never rang true to her family
“Her husband is saying he did not file a missing person’s report because he said she willingly left the house,” Thorton-Newhouse said. ”But we definitely knew something was not right. We’re her family, her blood, we know when something was wrong.”
Thorton-Newhouse said while Edward stayed home to care for the couple’s children, Jennifer worked to support the family, ultimately landing her dream job of being an EMS dispatcher.
“She was so happy. She loves helping people,” her sister said. “She’s such a good-hearted person who just loves to laugh and smile.”
In his jailhouse interview with WFAA, Edward said that he and Jennifer had a dysfunctional relationship and that she had been growing distant from him in the months before her death.
The Hood County Sheriff’s Office arrested Edward on Wednesday, according to a statement from the department.
He is now facing charges of murder and tampering with evidence.
Investigators were able to recover Jennifer’s body after Edward led them to the area where he had dumped the body, WFAA reports.
"I believe he's a cold-blooded killer,” Sheriff Roger Deeds told the station. “Maybe his temper got to him that day. We won't really know but you don't pick up three different weapons just to make sure you get the job done.”
