By JUSTIN STORY, Bowling Green Daily News

After Terry Thomas’ wife was shot to death in her bed last week, Terry called two of the couple’s children and confessed to the shooting, according to a detective’s courtroom testimony.

Mary Thomas was found dead in her bed Jan. 9 at the couple’s home at 1128 Blue Bell Way.

Detective Vedad Hadzikadunic of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office said during a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Warren District Court that a crossword puzzle was found in her lap and her cane was on her side of the bed.

Terry Thomas, 76, is charged with murder and receiving stolen property (firearm) and is currently in Warren County Regional Jail under a $500,000 cash bond.

He was brought into court in a wheelchair by court security.

At the end of the hearing, Warren District Judge John Brown bound the case over to a grand jury.

Hadzikadunic said the couple’s daughter called 911 on the evening of Jan. 9 to report that she had received a phone call from Terry Thomas during which he claimed to have shot his wife in self-defense.

When deputies were dispatched to the home, Thomas claimed initially that his wife had attempted to stab him, then took the gun from him and shot herself, Hadzikadunic said.

Terry Thomas was taken to The Medical Center after experiencing difficulty breathing, and he agreed to give a statement to Hadzikadunic there.

“He advised that he and his wife had been having problems for many years,” Hadzikadunic said. “He went into the bedroom to try to make the relationship better, and he advised she produced a handgun, a struggle occurred and then the gun went off.”

The Thomas’ daughter was interviewed over the phone and reported that Terry Thomas told her he and his wife were arguing.

“Thomas told his daughter the victim got in his face and threatened to leave him,” Hadzikadunic said. “(Thomas’ daughter) doesn’t remember the suspect telling her he was physically attacked by the victim.”

Hadzikadunic testified that Thomas also called his son in the wake of the shooting and gave him an account of what happened.

“(Thomas) told (his son) he got tired of arguing with his spouse and he just couldn’t take it anymore and he shot her,” Hadzikadunic said.

During that phone call, Thomas reportedly told his son that he was going to prison for the rest of his life, the detective said.

Police retrieved a .22 caliber handgun that was found on top of the drawer next to the bed on the side where Terry Thomas slept, and deputies learned through investigation that the gun had been reported stolen in Florida in 2014.

Hadzikdunic said that Thomas claimed to have received the gun from his father as a gift.