PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. — A former Eatonton Police officer will now spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his wife.
According to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, Michael Perrault was found guilty on all counts Friday in connection with the Feb. 2020 death of 44-year-old Amanda Perrault. His charges included malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault.
Sills says Perrault was then sentenced to life in prison without parole by Judge Brenda Trammell.
CASE BACKGROUND
Perrault was initially arrested on Jan. 28, 2020 and charged with simple battery on his wife, Amanda. In addition to simple battery, he was also charged with child cruelty because his 8-year-old daughter was present at the time.
He was released on a $1,500 bond the next day.
At his bond hearing, the chief magistrate wanted to put in a condition that he not have contact with his wife, but she assured the court her husband had no place to go and was OK to go home.
Days later, Amanda was found dead.
Michael claimed she killed herself in front of him, and no one else was home at the time of her death. Sills described it as suspicious due to evidence and circumstances surrounding his initial arrest.
The sheriff also revealed that Perrault didn’t call 911 first after his wife's death -- instead he called his boss, Chief Kent Lawrence, who had put Perrault on unpaid leave after the battery charge.
Though nothing had been reported to deputies prior to the battery case, Sills said conversations with family members revealed "there appears to be a long history of domestic abuse."
At a court hearing later that February, Sills testified it was obvious from the jump that Perrault had killed his wife and tried to stage it based on details at the scene.
A neighbor who gave Amanda refuge in their home also testified saying she told them, “If anything happened, she didn’t kill herself.”