Husband Stammers and Stumbles in 911 Call About 'Injured' Wife He Allegedly Shot to Death
Dwight Luton told cops one story, but surveillance video showed another, police said.
Authorities have released a stumbling 911 call made by a man charged with shooting his wife to death and then restaging the crime scene.
Dwight Luton, 32, is heard haltingly telling a Florida emergency operator that his 31-year-old wife, Ashley Balius, has had an accident. At times, his voice sounds slurred and he appears to have difficulty explaining what has happened.
Read: Father Kills Daughter in Apparent Murder-Suicide at Shopping Mall
Luton: “My wife … she had an accident … she’s in the …"
Operator: “OK, what happened?”
Luton: “We just went to the store.”
Operator: “Tell me what happened with the accident.”
Luton: “I need an ambulance right now.”
Operator: “I understand. I need to know what happened so I know what to send. Sir, what happened to her?”
"Oh, she’s injured,” he says, 50 seconds into the call. “She got a gunshot wound.”
He has been charged with first-degree murder and tampering/fabricating evidence in the March 7 shooting. He is being held without bail and has not entered a plea.
Luton was standing in his Riviera Beach driveway, propping up his wife, who was hanging from the driver’s seat of a blue SUV and bleeding profusely, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by police.
He told officers his wife had accidentally shot herself while trying to remove a gun from her purse, officers said.
But surveillance video from several cameras mounted at the front of the house showed Luton reaching inside the vehicle with a handgun and appearing to fire a shot, the affidavit said.
He then wipes down the dashboard area and flings several small items, believed to be brain matter, out of the SUV, the document says. Luton wipes himself down, then makes a call on a cell phone while his wife is slumped behind the wheel, police said.
The surveillance video shows him walking into the house, carrying a silver handgun by a pinkie finger, the affidavit says. About a minute later, he returns, talking on the cell, and removes his T-shirt and appears to be rendering aid to his wife as officers arrive, according to the document.
Balius, who had been shot in the right ear, died hours later at a nearby hospital, police said.
Luton was arrested after police, armed with a search warrant, viewed security camera footage on the couple’s home computer.
The couple operated a firearms business and been married less than a year. Luton was arrested last year after Balius reported he hit her in the face, but charges were dropped after she declined to pursue the case, according to court records,
Watch: Hear Mom's Chilling 911 Call After Husband Kills Teen Daughters and Himself
Trending on Inside Edition

'Borg Challenge' Craze Leads to 46 UMass Amherst Students Hospitalized, 28 Ambulances Called to Campus
Health
Double Amputee Speaks Out After Sports Star's Son Destroys Wheelchair
Sports
Letecia Stauch Murder Trial: She Says a Rapist Abducted Stepson; Cops Say She Killed the Boy and Hid His Body
Crime
4 Suspects Charged for the Murder of an 18-Year-Old Found Dead in a Mississippi National Forest
Crime
Where Is Arianna Fitts? Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Locating a Missing Girl 7 Years After She Vanished
Crime
Husband of Murdered Microsoft Exec's Ex-Wife Arrested After Allegedly Hiring Hitman to Carry Out Execution
Crime