The Dateline NBC episode ‘The Officer’s Wife’ investigates the 2007 death of 26-year-old Tera Chavez, wife of Albuquerque police officer Levi Chavez. Levi found Tera shot dead in their suburban home. Levi was later charged with the death of his wife. Prosecutors claimed he used his police-issued gun and made it appear as a suicide. They also claimed he was motivated by his wife’s threat to report him for insurance fraud.
During Chavez’s trial, Albuquerque police officer Debra Romero testified that she was having an affair with Levi Chavez and was with him for part of the weekend when Tera was shot. In August 2013, Chavez was acquitted of the murder charges. In July 2015, Chavez filed a lawsuit against the detective who launched the investigation. Chavez says he was tried for murder without probable cause. Chavez is also reportedly studying to become a lawyer at the University of New Mexico Law School (beginning in Fall 2016). Dateline NBC airs Saturdays at 8pm.
