A Georgia Man Got Angry at His Wife Because She Went on a Birthday Trip Without Him. Then, He Murdered Her.

A Georgia man killed his wife and then claimed she committed suicide, authorities said, because he was so upset she went on a birthday trip without him. Now, he'll spend his life behind bars in connection with her murder.

On Aug. 2, 2022, Glenroy Roberts, 53, phoned 911 and reported his wife, 45-year-old Claudia Roberts, fatally shot herself after they got into an argument at the couple’s apartment in Lawrenceville.

During the investigation, however, police said they “determined that Claudia had more than one gunshot wound, and multiple shell casings were found in near her body."

Glenroy Roberts was then charged with murder.

Delores Squire claimed to WSB-TV she and her daughter, Claudia Roberts, recently had gone to New Jersey together to celebrate the victim’s birthday.

“I guess he wasn’t pleased with her for going,” Squire said. “She shouldn’t have gone down like that. She didn’t deserve that.”

Squire also claimed to the station that her son-in-law was abusive but her daughter stayed in the marriage anyway.

“She wanted to see them grow up with a father,” Squires said of the victim, who was a mother of five. “If a person should ever hit you, don’t let it happen a second time, because it’s going to continue.”

Family said Claudia Roberts was shot in front of her 10-year-old son.

“He was there. Please pray for him,” the victim’s daughter, Samantha Phillips, told WSB-TV. “The trauma and things that may go through his head, we will not know.”

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On July 25, 2024, a jury deliberated about two hours before rendering guilty verdicts, WANF reported. Glenroy Roberts was convicted of one count each of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

A judge overseeing the case handed down the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus five years for the additional crimes committed that day.