Wife of man shot dead in their bed calls for forgiveness for husband's killer - but wants his ex-wife punished
- Benjamin Oxley, 36, was shot to death in 2008 while sleeping next to his wife
- James Matlean was convicted of Oxley's murder and sentenced in March to a life in prison without parole
- Matlean claimed that Oxley's ex-wife, Dawn, orchestrated the murder
- Dawn Oxley made a deal with the prosecution that gave her immunity in the murder case
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More than four years after her husband was shot to death while sleeping beside her, Melissa Oxley says she has forgiven the man who was eventually convicted in the murder, but wants his alleged accomplice held accountable.
On February 21, 2008, Melissa Oxley was awakened at around 3:30am by a loud sound to discover her 36-year-old husband, Benjamin, dead in their bed from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Melissa Oxley's 6-year-old stepdaughter, Alyssa, was sleeping in a room nearby. When she heard the commotion, Mellisa had to restrain the little girl from entering the bedroom to check up on her dad, according to the Record-Courier.
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Slain: Benjamin Oxley, left, was shot to death in his home in February of 2008 while lying next to his wife, Melissa, pictured right
Oxley went downstairs and after seeing that the front door of their Minden, Nevada, home was unlocked, she called 911. When police had established that the killer did not break into the house, the victim's widow had unexpectedly found herself the prime suspect in the case.
Prime suspect: After Ben Oxley's murder, his wife, Melissa, became a prime suspect in the probe, but was later cleared of all suspicions
Talking to Today host Ann Curry on Friday, Oxley said she was 'very numb at first and overwhelmed.' Oxley also added that she felt sick that she was being thought of as the murderer.
Strong little girl: Benjamin Oxley received the custody of his daughter, Alyssa, after his divorce, and Melissa Oxley has been caring for her since the 2008 murder
Oxley was interrogated but released. In June of 2010, as her husband's murder case was growing cold, 24-year-old James Matlean, then-boyfriend of Benjamin Oxley's ex-wife, Dawn, was charged with the young father's murder.
Criminal duo: James Matlean, left, was sentenced to a life in prison for Benjamin Oxley's murder, but says that the plot was hatched by Oxley's ex-wife, Dawn, pictured right
Dawn Oxley testified that Matlean had killed her ex-husband in an effort to please her. Ben and Dawn were divorced in 2004, and the father got custody of their daughter. Shortly before the murder, Dawn Oxley had been ordered to pay her ex-husband $200 in monthly child support.
'It’s done,' Matlean reportedly told Dawn Oxley after the murder. In February of 2010, she was granted immunity from prosecution for turning him in.
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ShareMelissa Oxley was shocked to learn the identity of her husband's killer because after the murder, Matlean had been spending time with her stepdaughter.
'He lived with her for over 19 months afterwards,' Oxley said on the Today show. 'I saw him numerous times. He’d pick her up from my house for visitations together.'
Matlean confessed to the crime and in March of 2012 was sentenced to a life in prison without parole. However, he has claimed that Dawn Oxley was the one who orchestrated the plot, drew a diagram of the house and even accompanied him the night of the murder. Matlean also said that his girlfriend wanted him to kill Melissa Oxley as well and kidnap her daughter, but he was too scared and fled.
'I'm taking full responsibility for what I did,' Matlean said in an interview. 'Dawn needs to take full responsibility for what she did.'
Compassion: Melissa Oxley's 10-year-old stepdaughter, Alyssa, met with her father's killer and told him that she has forgiven him
Dawn Oxley, however, has denied her involvement in the murder, saying that while she had complained about her ex-husband, she would never go so far as to have him killed. Matlean’s attorney, Ken Stover, said the prosecutor made a deal with the devil.
In her Today Show interview, Melissa Oxley agreed that Dawn bears responsibility for the murder of her husband and said that she should be punished for her role in it. The 39-year-old is currently serving a 90-month prison term for using an older daughter in multiple drug transactions, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Melissa said that from the beginning, she told her stepdaughter that they would approach her father’s killer with compassion, no matter who it turned out to be. After Matlean was convicted, the girl, now 10, asked to speak to him and told him that she decided to forgive him.
Melissa Oxley said she wants her stepdaughter to be able to grow up without anger.
'We have to still live our lives, so I thought it was super important for her to be able to go on with hers too,' she said.
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