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Wife suspected of murder claims she tripped and accidentally stabbed husband

Posted at 5:30 AM, Oct 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-16 06:30:19-04

LAKELAND, FL (RNN) - A Florida woman was arrested for the stabbing death of her husband after authorities say the multiple accounts she gave of the incident, determined to be homicide, didn’t make sense.

After a nearly 4-month investigation, 38-year-old Rachael Fidanian was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder, according to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office press release.

Rachael Fidanian’s husband, Bryant Fidanian, died in June after he was stabbed in the shoulder by his wife in their home. The suspect claimed the incident was accidental, deputies say, and gave various “inconsistent” explanations of what happened.

In multiple of the explanations, Rachael Fidanian said she walked toward the victim while holding her dog in one hand and a knife in the other. She then tripped and stabbed him.

However, the details changed, with the suspect saying that just before the stabbing, she had been slicing pizza, doing the dishes or dealing with dog feces after her dog defecated on itself, the Miami Herald reports.

Detectives with the sheriff’s office determined none of the explanations were plausible, according to the press release.

When asked to show how she had been holding her dog, Rachael Fidanian couldn’t pick it up. In addition, the robe she had allegedly been wearing that morning had no poop or pee on it, nor did the living room, the Miami Herald reports.

“The suspect made a lot of excuses, but none of them made sense. Our detectives did a thorough investigation. In the end, they determined this was an intentional act of domestic violence,” said Sheriff Grady Judd in the press release.

Rachael Fidanian told deputies she and her husband had a “wonderful” relationship and that they rarely argued, but witnesses said they often heard them arguing loudly, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The sheriff’s office had responded to seven calls from the couple’s Lakeland, FL, address in the past two years, one of which resulted in Bryant Fidanian’s arrest.

Investigators noted a bruise under Rachael Fidanian’s left eye on the day of the stabbing that got worse over time, the Miami Herald reports.

The medical examiner ruled the victim’s death a homicide, according to the sheriff’s office. An autopsy determined four inches of the blade cut through his rib bone and pulmonary artery.

Rachael Fidanian is being held without bond.

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