Wife Found Guilty of Killing Husband In What She Claimed Was Her Own Botched Suicide: "Lies"

When a hysterical woman called 911 in Millersburg, Oregon on Nov. 16, 2015, she admitted to dispatchers she killed her own husband before police even arrived.

Roberta Samard, 62, claimed her husband had left for work, but came back unexpectedly.

“They start talking to Roberta,” said journalist Ashley Korslien on Snapped, airing Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen. “She seems a little out of it. She is telling them, ‘I did it. I shot my husband.’ But she had planned to die by suicide … she happened to accidentally shoot him.”

When police arrived, they found 57-year-old Ken Samard dead on his back porch. A gun was discovered inside near the back door.

“I’ve been really sad and depressed,” Roberta told police during an interview. “They’re gonna take away our house from us. And I just couldn’t face it anymore. I just couldn’t face all that … I was trying to shoot myself, not him.”

Roberta agreed to do a reenactment with police.

“How she portrayed it, it was possible,” said Mike Harmon, former Linn County Sheriff’s detective, on Snapped. “I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe her so bad.”

Ken and Roberta Samard first met in 1996 after each had been divorced.

“She was nice. She was friendly,” said Danielle Larsen, Ken Samard’s daughter, on Snapped. “She always had a smile on her face. Seemed to make my dad happy.”

The two married in Las Vegas on Sept. 2, 2000. But 13 years into their marriage, the paper mill where they were employed closed, and both lost their jobs. Eventually, Ken began studying to become an HVAC engineer.

Roberta Samara. Photo: Oxygen

Despite the fact that Roberta claimed she was suicidal and admitted their house was in foreclosure, family and friends had no idea their marriage was in trouble.

“Ken and Roberta did seem really happy when they were together,” said Kaliska King, Ken’s niece, on Snapped. “They’d be joking and enjoying each other’s company.”

As police searched the house after Ken’s death, they discovered the notice of foreclosure on the home at the bottom of a clothes hamper. Only Roberta’s signature was on the documents. A notebook found on Ken’s desk also shed light into their marriage.

“It had some notes in there about Roberta being controlling about money. Him always having to ask for permission for money or permission to spend money,” Harmon said. “It spells it out pretty clearly that Ken does not have the counting of where his money is going or their money is going.”

Ken also indicated in the notebook he was considering leaving Roberta.

“I think he was just about ready to sever that relationship,” Harmon said.

Family and friends said Roberta was a big shopper.

“I just can’t imagine that if you don’t have the money to pay for your house, why you’d be buying extravagant gifts for your friends,” Harmon said. “Other than to give this impression that you’re well-off and living this fabulous life.”

A local house flipper helped police piece the puzzle of the Samard marriage together. Brian Smith called officers after he saw the story of Roberta’s arrest on television and told them he was the actual owner of the Samard's home.

“We learned Roberta had worked with the new owner to stay in the house for a few more weeks,” Harmon said. “Which that time came and went, so she got another extension. We’re surmising that Ken never had any idea.”

Smith confirmed Ken likely had no idea he’d been evicted, and his house had been sold without his knowledge.

“They asked if I had spoken with the husband,” Smith said on Snapped. “Nope, never seen him. Never spoken to him. Only dealt with Roberta.”

But Roberta’s deception went beyond that.

“The day Ken died was supposed to be the day that they were packed up and moved out of that house. There were no moving boxes,” Harmon said.

On Nov. 17, 2015, an autopsy was performed on Ken Samard.

“What the autopsy revealed was there was no gunshot residue on Ken’s hands, indicating that in all likelihood he did not try to grab the gun from her or interfere,” Korslien said.

The wound on Ken also provided insight as to what happened.

“The evidence suggests her arm was outreached and she pulled that trigger intentionally to kill Ken Samard,” Harmon said.

In addition, the gun trigger itself was analyzed, and found to be difficult to pull.

“You had to squeeze that trigger pretty tight for it to go off, which tells them, ‘You did this on purpose.’ This was intentional,” Korslien said.

In April 2017, a jury found Roberta Samard guilty of murdering her husband, Ken. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and is scheduled for release in 2040 at the age of 87.

But many still question why she did it.

“What was the point of that?” Harmon said. "I still think it was going to be a murder-suicide. Maybe it was that she wanted to save Ken from the embarrassment of losing his house. But she chickened out.”

One friend has a different theory.

“She had built a house of cards on lies and deception and the pressure caused her to snap,” said Sean Whitacre, Ken’s friend, on Snapped.

Watch all-new episodes of Snapped on Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen.