A Gilbert woman has been sentenced in the 2023 death of her husband. 

Ivanka Koleva, 52, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the death of Stefan Koleva, who police found dead and wrapped in plastic under the bed in the couple’s home with multiple gunshot wounds and a stab wound.  

Gilbert Police were asked in November 2023 to conduct a welfare check on Stefan Koleva, 49, according to a release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. One of his adult children, who had come into town for Thanksgiving, had not seen him since arriving several days earlier.   

The victim’s children told police that their mother, Ivanka Koleva, had been acting strangely over the past several days and asked them not to go inside the home, according to the release. They also said she recently had been involved in a car crash, which they believed was a suicide attempt. 

 Police reviewed security video from a neighbor’s house, which showed the defendant and the victim entering their home a few days prior, according to the county. The defendant was then seen coming and going, but the victim was not seen again.  

Inside the home, police found evidence the defendant had cleaned the crime scene, hid the victim’s belongings and attempted to repair a bullet hole in the bedroom door, according to the relese. Police also found the murder weapon in the vehicle the defendant was driving at the time of the car crash. 

  "This wasn’t just a murder — it was a betrayal that shattered a family,” County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the release. “These children came home to see their parents and instead discovered a crime scene. No one should ever have to endure that kind of horror, especially at the hands of their own mother."