Husband seen on TV mourning wife’s death last year is arrested for allegedly killing her for insurance payout

The accused was seen grieving his wife’s death along with his son

Jason Ross Dunigan seen here mourning his wife Amber Dunigan in June 2021 (KNWA)

An Arkansas man was arrested for allegedly killing his wife nearly a year after he was seen grieving her death on television along with his son.

Jason Ross Dunigan, 39, is facing capital murder charges in relation to the death of 36-year-old Amber Dunigan. She was found dead from a gunshot wound inside her parked car along the Arkansas Highway on 28 May 2021.

However, according to criminal information submitted to the Fourth Judicial District Court on 17 February 2022, “the defendant shot his wife in the head” and that he committed the alleged crime “with the premeditated and deliberated purpose of causing the death of another person”.

A visibly grieving Dunigan family, in June 2021, “wanted answers” about her death while paying their respects at the place her body was found.

“You hope somebody saw something and would call it in and say, ‘I saw this, I saw that,’ and give police some kind of lead,” James Dunigan, the deceased woman’s father-in-law, told KNWA in June last year.

James Ross Dunigan is accused of murdering his wife Amber in May 2021 (Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

The accused allegedly used a shotgun in a bid to cash in on his wife’s $300,000 life insurance policy. An arrested warrant was issued the next day for Mr Dunigan on Capital Murder, a class Y felony. He was arrested from Farmington town.

On the day of the murder, Mr Dunigan was the first person to call 911 and later identified the deceased woman as his wife after Arkansas State Police trooper Jeff Richardson reported to the scene.

Mr Dunigan said “he had met the victim at that spot earlier in the evening" because of mechanical issues with his car and later left his wife there and drove back to their house.

He later “became concerned” when she didn’t arrive home and drove with his parents to the spot where he last met his wife.

Amber Dunigan was found dead inside her car along Arkansas Highway 16 on 28 May 2021 (Amy Irwin via GoFundMe)

Investigators reportedly found “cash and other valuables” inside the vehicle, which lead them to believe that the killing wasn’t an attempt at robbery.

A small piece of neon green fabric was found near the head wound on Dunigan “appeared to be very similar to the fabric used on the suspect’s work shirts”, KNWA quoted investigators as saying.

Authorities claimed Mr Dunigan used one of his “work shirts” to “muffle the sound of a gunshot”.

A witness had reportedly spoken to Mr Dunigan and said he was complaining that the victim’s place of business would not release her life insurance to him, according to police. He allegedly told her that he was “the number one suspect”.

Authorities said Dunigan’s life insurance policy listed her son and husband as beneficiaries. Investigators found several firearms at the Dunigan residence, along with a “Night Owl” surveillance system.

The accused was booked into Washington County Jail on 19 February and later released on a $250,000 bond.