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Wife of suspected killer speaks about being held at gunpoint

Posted at 1:45 AM, Apr 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-25 01:45:44-04

HOLLAND, Mich. – The wife of the man accused of shooting two people over the weekend and holding her at gunpoint is speaking to FOX 17 about the incident.

Mary Hartman was in a Holland courtroom Tuesday, facing charges of filing a false police report. Attorneys confirm that charge against her was dropped. That charge stemmed from a domestic dispute in February and had nothing to do with the shooting that happened over the weekend.

Following that hearing, Mary told FOX 17 her relationship with Matt Hartman had been rocky in recent months, but she never imagined their volatile marriage would spiral out of control leading to the violence that happened on Sunday.

“His mental health had deteriorated, he had lots of anger issues, a lot of jealousy issues. And he snapped," says Mary Hartman, wife of suspected shooter Matt Hartman.

Mary says on Sunday she experienced the darkest hours of their six year marriage when they drove from their home in West Olive to Muskegon. That's where police say Matt killed 29-year-old Jordan Carey.

“Jordan answered the door and he seen me sitting there and he tried to tuck and run at him and try to tackle him off of the steps, and that’s when Matt shot him in the head," says Hartman.

Friends of Carey say, he'll be dearly missed.

“Jordan was a real bright individual. He was loyal to a fault,” says Chris Thompson, a friend of Jordan Carey.

“He was a genuine, kind-hearted person, he always managed to keep a positive outlook despite all the disadvantages that were thrown his way," said Carey's friend, James Herbert.

Mary says after Matt killed Jordan and injured another victim, 25-year-old Mariah Cantu, he drove back to West Olive.

“Yeah I was supposed to die Sunday, there’s no doubt in my mind,” says Hartman.

Back at their home, police surrounded the house. Matt eventually came outside with a gun pointed at Mary’s head. Law enforcement ordered him to put the gun down.

“And he leaned in and whispered in my ear that he loved me. And then 5 officers said that he went and put his finger on the trigger like he was going to pull it and they had to do what they had to do to save me.”

An autopsy confirmed Matt Hartman died from a single gunshot wound. The officer who fired the fatal shot is from Holland Public Safety and is on administrative leave, which is standard procedure. A motive for this case remains under investigation.