DNA evidence reveals that a man's wife shot and killed him in a love-triangle last year.
Court records show that DNA evidence supports the conclusion that the killing was not done in self-defense and the person who said he was responsible for shooting the victim was covering for his girlfriend.
On August 13, 2015, around 8 p.m. police were called to a home near 35th Avenue and Loop 101 for reports of a shooting.There they found William Paulsen dead. Police said Paulsen had been shot six times. A knife was found nearby.
Jason Mayes, 36, reportedly told police that he was indeed having an affair with the man's wife, 29-year-old Simona Paulsen. He said he went with her to the police station to get an order of protection against Paulsen and then returned home and found the man in his home with a knife. Mayes reportedly told police that he shot Paulsen when he advanced on him with the knife. After the shooting, he took the knife away and called the police.
Phoenix police told ABC15, detectives did find a knife in the home, but it was unclear who the knife belonged to.
Police also talked with Mayes ex-girlfriend who allegedly told them that she was the one who told Paulsen about the affair and that she was on the phone with him when the shooting happened. Paulsen told her that he was going to Mayes' house and she told police that she heard them exchange greetings then heard a loud noise.
The victim's family were suspicious of Simona Paulsen, a woman from Romania who William Paulsen met online and came to the U.S. in 2015 to marry him. They were not content with the self-defense claim and hired a private investigator to look into it. The investigator reportedly indicated to police that the knife used was a "military specific tactical knife." The woman told police that her husband owned a knife but could not verify the knife at the scene was his.
DNA evidence reportedly shows that "red/brown stains" on the knife belonged to the victim while DNA belonging to Mayes was found on the handle. They also allegedly found DNA on the gun and magazine belonging to Simona Paulsen.
Paulsen and Mayes were arrested this week in Prescott. Simona Paulsen has been charged with second-degree murder while Jason Mayes has been accused of tampering with evidence.
