SHAWANO COUNTY (NBC 26) — Prosecutors have filed a new first-degree intentional homicide charge against a Shawano County man previously ordered to stand trial in his wife’s 2016 death.
Court records show James Radford, 40, was charged Aug. 19 in Shawano County with first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon and domestic abuse in the death of his wife, Sabrina Radford.
The new filing is tied to the same homicide case in which Radford was previously charged with first-degree reckless homicide. He pleaded not guilty to that charge during a preliminary hearing in July, when a judge found probable cause and ordered him to stand trial.
Sabrina Radford, 25, was found dead April 11, 2016, in the Town of Fairbanks. Investigators said James Radford initially claimed his wife shot herself following an argument about infidelity.
According to the earlier criminal complaint, evidence collected by the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory contradicted that account, including findings that Sabrina Radford was holding her cellphone when she died and that the firearm lacked blood or blowback material investigators said would be expected if she fired the gun herself at close range.
A preliminary hearing on the new charge is scheduled for Friday. Court records show Radford is being held on a new $800,000 cash bond.
