A jury handed down the maximum sentence on Thursday to a man found guilty of killing his wife in 2021, the Collin County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release.
Joseph Daniel Enriquez, 55, of Anna, Texas, received a life sentence for the murder.
“While the criminal justice system can never make a loved one’s family feel whole again, we hope that the jury’s maximum sentence brings at least some peace and solace to the victim’s family,” said Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis.
Enriquez called 911 in March 2021, claiming he had shot his wife. The Anna Police Department responded to the scene and discovered the victim dead in the bathroom, a shotgun wound to her chest, the Collin County DA’s office said.
Enriquez admitted to police that he accidentally pulled the trigger while putting his gun away and repeatedly told officers that the shotgun was not loaded. When Anna PD officers examined the weapon, they discovered a live round in the chamber.
Enriquez called a family member months later while awaiting trial in the Collin County Jail with a new story. This time, he claimed that the victim had discovered his affair eight years before and loaded the shotgun herself. Enriquez claimed that he grabbed the gun from her, and it accidentally discharged.
During the trial, firearms experts refuted Enriquez’s claim that the shotgun “went off,” explaining that this shotgun requires 9 1/2 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger.
The experts testified that the lethal shot was fired from about 9-12 feet away from the victim and was not a close contact wound caused by a struggle over the gun, according to the Collin County DA’s office.