FULTON COUNTY, Ga. -- The murder indictment against Claud "Tex" McIver details several new allegations against the prominent Atlanta attorney in his wife's death.
McIver now faces seven new charges, including murder, malice murder and three counts of influencing witnesses, in the Sept. 25 shooting death of Diane McIver.
Diane McIver died after being shot while riding in a SUV near Piedmont Park with her husband.
Tex McIver had called the shooting a "tragic accident", saying that his revolving went off while he dozed in the backseat of the SUV. Back in December, he was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and felony involuntary manslaughter. But now, prosecutors allege that Diane's death was premeditated.
PHOTOS | Motions hearing being held for Tex McIver's bond (story continues below gallery)
Photos: Motions hearing being held for Tex McIver's bond
Those charges were upgraded a day after a judge revoked bond against McIver after a gun was found inside his Buckhead condominium.
The new charges against Tex McIver are as follows:
- Malice murder
- Felony murder
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
- Possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony
- Three counts of influencing witnesses.
According to the indictment, Tex McIver is accused of instructing the woman driving the SUV at the time of the shooting, Dani Jo Carter, to tell authorities that she was not present when Diane was shot.
The indictment also states that McIver told Charles William Crane to retract a statement that Crane made to news media after the shooting. Crane had detailed the moments after the incident to 11Alive and other media outlets. (Click here for that story)
McIver is also accused of leaving a voicemail to Carter's husband on Oct. 6, implying that Carter should "cease communicating her recollections of the facts and circumstances of the death of [Diane McIver] to law enforcement officers, because said statements placed the defendant at imminent risk of immediate incarceration." McIver also allegedly requested that Carter's husband delete the voicemail.
Tex McIver remained behind bars on Thursday.
Earlier this year, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard sought to stop an auction of items from Diane McIver's estate. McIver's legal team insisted that none of the auction's proceeds would go towards his legal defense. They said the money would go to heirs named in Diane McIver's will. A judge allowed the sale to take place.
During the emergency bond hearings, prosecutors said they believed that Tex McIver was hiding a secret will that his wife drafted before her death. McIver's lawyers disputed that claim.
