Man stages girlfriend’s death as suicide after he sees her text, IL officials say
When police were called to an Illinois residence months ago, they were initially told a woman died by suicide, Illinois prosecutors said.
Mary Halcomb was found “lying in a pool of blood on the stairwell landing” with a gun in her hand and a gunshot wound to her neck in a Peoria home in September, but a trail of blood leading to a downstairs bedroom contradicted her boyfriend’s statement that she died by suicide, according to the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The boyfriend, 19-year-old Nathaniel Archuleta, has pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison in connection with Halcomb’s killing, prosecutors said in a July 7 news release.
Archuleta’s attorney declined to comment on his plea and sentencing.
In addition to a trail of blood, authorities found a sticky note that read, “I, Mary Elyce Halcomb, promise to never break Nathanial Archuleta’s heart, and if I do, Nathaniel Archuleta has every right to euthanize me, vice versa, I love you,” prosecutors said.
Archuleta told police conflicting stories when he was initially questioned, saying she died by suicide, then saying she accidentally shot herself, according to prosecutors. In jail, he told an inmate he shot her when he saw she had texted another man, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said he had “staged her death to appear as a suicide.”
Halcomb’s loved ones filled the court room on the day of Archuleta’s plea, prosecutors aid.
“They spoke of sleepless nights, nightmares, and persistent heartbreak. They described their overwhelming sense of loss, loss of sisterly moments, shared dreams, and life milestones that will never come,” prosecutors said.
Peoria is about a 170-mile drive southwest from Chicago.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Man stages girlfriend’s death as suicide after he sees her text, IL officials say."
