A North Carolina man has admitted to murdering his industrial engineer wife — and staging her death to look like a suicide.

Michael Aaron Matthews, aged 42, received a prison sentence ranging from 13 years to nearly 17 years after admitting to second-degree murder in the case involving the death of 33-year-old Nabaruna Karmaker. She was discovered with fatal gunshot wounds inside their residence in Morrisville, a town located about 15 miles north of Raleigh.

Beside her, an urn containing her late pet dog Boomer’s ashes was found, and nearby were a potted plant, a gas can, and a 12-gauge shotgun.

Matthews had called first responders to the home, claiming there had been a “double suicide.”

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But the details of his story didn’t add up.

Karmaker’s two shotgun wounds, one to her torso and the other to her neck, were fired in “quick succession” from different ranges, the prosecution said, according to a report from The News & Observer. The autopsy reportedly stated suicide was “highly unlikely” in light of that.

Karmakar, an industrial engineer, researcher, and data scientist, had reportedly filed to divorce Matthews a week before.

“You took advantage of her ability to love and her kind soul,” Karmakar’s sister, Monita Karmakar, said in a statement read in court by Assistant District Attorney Christina Koscianski. “When she wanted to leave you, instead of letting her go, you decided to end her life so no one else could feel her love.”