29-year-old woman died after her 32-year-old husband she wanted to divorce from due to “poor treatment” shot her in the head with a shotgun following an argument; husband sentenced
Oklahoma – In a horrific case in Oklahoma that revealed disturbing details of domestic violence and manipulation, a 32-year-old man, identified as Bradley F., has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2024 killing of his 29-year-old wife, identified as Sara F. Bradley pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder in the death of Sara, who had been preparing to leave him due to what she described as “poor treatment.” On Wednesday, a judge ordered that Bradley spend the rest of his life in a state correctional facility.
The killing occurred on the night of September 13, 2024, inside the couple’s home. Just after 9:30 p.m., Bradley ran to a neighbor’s home, frantically claiming that his wife had shot herself. However, investigators quickly realized that the scene told a very different story. “When the officers arrived, the scene looked like everything other than suicide,” Police Chief J. Kidney said. The inside of the home bore clear signs of a struggle. A kitchen table was split in half, furniture was overturned, and various items were broken and scattered across the rooms. Emergency responders found Sara with a gunshot wound to the head, inflicted by a 12-gauge shotgun.
Initially, Bradley told police he had walked in and witnessed his wife take her own life. But when officers prepared to test his hands for gunshot residue, he abruptly changed his story, saying the gun had discharged during a fight between them. He claimed they were struggling over the weapon when it went off. Detectives were unconvinced. Sara’s body had been staged — the shotgun was found lying behind her, an unnatural position if the death were truly self-inflicted. In a bizarre twist, investigators discovered that Bradley had packed petroleum jelly into her facial wound, a move police believed was intended to obscure forensic evidence.
Key to the investigation was the recovery of Sara’s personal journal, in which she wrote about her plan to leave her husband due to his mistreatment. Detectives also spoke with her father, who revealed ongoing tension between the couple. The problems were so severe that child protective services had previously removed the couple’s children from the home for their safety. On the day of the shooting, Sara’s father had been staying at the house to help calm tensions. But thinking things had settled, he left briefly to buy flea medicine and dinner — only to return and find the street swarming with police vehicles and flashing lights.
Neighbors also told police they heard the couple arguing loudly shortly before the gunshot rang out. Bradley, who had been drinking that night, was visibly emotional when officers arrived. As medical personnel attempted to save Sara, he was seen yelling, “I got to go in there, bro! I got to go in there! It’s my wife! She’s laying in there man!” But his pleas did not match the evidence. At the police station, Bradley declined to speak further, invoking his right to legal counsel.
Adding a chilling detail to an already tragic case, footage from the crime scene captured a sign hanging outside the couple’s home: “WARNING: Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.” With mounting evidence and Bradley’s own admission of guilt, the court handed down a life sentence, ensuring he will never walk free again. While the physical wounds he inflicted ended Sara’s life, the emotional scars left behind remain with her family and children, whose futures were forever altered by a night of rage, control, and irreversible loss.
