Maricopa County has witnessed the conclusion of a grisly case involving family and betrayal, as reported by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Ivanka Koleva, born in September 1972, has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to Second-Degree Murder in the death of her husband, Stefan Koleva. County Attorney Rachel Mitchell disclosed the sentencing details, underlining the severity of the crime.
The case unraveled in November 2023, when Gilbert Police officers, responding to a welfare check instigated by concerned relatives during the Thanksgiving period, found the victim’s body hidden under a bed, concealed in plastic and bearing marks of violence. Despite Ivanka Koleva's attempts to put a façade of normalcy, her behavior raised red flags with her children, who were told inexplicably to steer clear of the family home. Further deepening suspicions, Koleva's recent involvement in what appeared to be a deliberate car crash was speculated by family members to be a suicide attempt.
Investigations by the police incorporated footage from a neighbor’s security camera that captured the couple's last known moments together, and damningly, only Koleva's subsequent entries and exits. Scrutinizing the home’s interior revealed that Koleva had attempted to cleanse traces of the crime, gone lengths to conceal her husband's personal effects, and even tried to patch up a bullet hole in the bedroom door. The murder weapon itself was later found in the vehicle Koleva had been driving at the time of the aforementioned car crash.
"This wasn’t just a murder—it was a betrayal that shattered a family," County Attorney Mitchell stated, reflecting on the harrowing events that unfolded.
