Michigan man having affair with ex-coworker makes up fake home invasion after failing to kill wife

CASCO TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Michigan man who was having an affair with a former coworker tried to kill his wife with a shotgun in the middle of the night but had to make it look like a home invasion when his plan failed, police said.

The incident happened around 3 a.m. March 29 at a home in the 4000 block of Palms Road in Casco Township, according to authorities.

Officials said they were called to the home by Gregory Allen Ringel, 57, of Casco Township.

Fake home invasion story

Police said Ringel told them a person armed with a shotgun had entered the home through the garage, walked through the kitchen and knocked over a steel tumbler. The noise woke up Ringel’s wife, and she got out of bed to check what had happened, according to authorities.

Ringel’s story was that his wife had been met at the doorway with a shotgun barrel as the armed person was entering her room, officials said.

The man shot at her, but missed, and she shut the door on the gun barrel, keeping the gunman from entering, Ringel allegedly told police.

Ringel said he had been sleeping in another room when he woke up and grabbed his handgun from the nightstand, according to police. He told them that he saw a shadow and shot in the direction of the fleeing intruder before going to check on his wife, authorities said.

When he went out to the garage to look for the intruder, he called police, Ringel told them.

Investigation reveals inconsistencies in story

St. Clair County deputies said they were in the area and responded quickly, but they didn’t see any suspicious vehicles leaving the area.

Investigators confirmed a shotgun was fired in the home, as was Ringel’s handgun. They said inconsistencies and unexplained facts began to pop up in his story, though.

Read more here.