The story sounded horrifying, if not unreal: A couple carjacked after attending a friend's dinner party, subjected to a nightmare that ended with the husband fatally shot as they sped, terrified, along Interstate 80.

But Shajia Ayobi's statements about that December morning just don't add up, Sacramento police now allege.

After an hours-long follow-up interview with the 45-year-old Foothill Farms woman, homicide detectives arrested her late Thursday on suspicion of killing her husband, 53-year-old Ghulam Ayobi. She was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on a murder charge. On Friday, she declined an interview with The Bee.

It was Ayobi's "inconsistent statements" that fueled detectives' suspicion of her involvement, said police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit. Yet police are not sure whether she pulled the trigger, whether anyone else was involved or to what extent her carjacking story was a lie, Pettit said.

Shortly after midnight Dec. 18, Shajia Ayobi called 911 from Interstate 80 near Norwood Avenue to report her husband – an Afghan war veteran who helped the U.S. Army prepare troops headed to his homeland – had been shot during a carjacking. Dispatchers told her to meet officers and paramedics on the Norwood offramp.

They found Ghulam Ayobi with a fatal gunshot to the upper body. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The next day, the couple's nephew, Munir Safi, said his aunt was traumatized. He said she was wavering between shock and grief, wondering aloud how her life could continue.

Repeating the account he said his aunt had given, Sufi said the couple had been at a friend's home in Natomas' Gateway West neighborhood.

As they prepared to leave, Ghulam Ayobi sat down in the passenger seat of the couple's minivan first, and apparently became aware of two people hiding in the back seat.

"Under duress," Safi said, Ayobi ordered his wife to get in the car and not look in the back seat. She would later tell investigators that she never got a good glimpse of the suspects, and could tell only that one sounded male and the other female.

Safi said his aunt felt it was a robbery, and Ghulam Ayobi attempted to hand over his wallet as they drove eastbound on 80. But a struggle broke out, and the man was shot. The suspects ordered her to pull over on the shoulder, and they fled, Safi said. That's when she called police.

On Friday, Safi issued this statement: "Our family is incredibly distraught by this awful turn of events. We are withholding judgment until all facts are known and the police complete their investigation."

Pettit said police had been interested in re-interviewing Shajia Ayobi for some time, but had trouble getting her to come in. That only elevated detectives' curiosity, he said.

She finally came in Thursday afternoon, and investigators spoke with her into the evening. She was arrested and booked late in the evening.

Pettit said Shajia Ayobi stuck to her story and made incriminating statements in the process.

"Based on her interview and inconsistent statements, things just didn't match up," Pettit said. "In these types of investigations, our detectives are very keen on details. Some of those details were not lining up with the evidence we found."

The investigation continues, and police are still trying to determine whether any other suspects are outstanding, Pettit said. They also are trying to identify a motive.

Though Shajia Ayobi and the couple's four children lived in Foothill Farms, Ghulam Ayobi spent most of his time in Louisiana, where he worked as a cultural and language adviser to the Army.

He would return the Sacramento County "on leave" whenever he could, his family said. He had returned just two days before he was killed.

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Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038. Follow her on Twitter @Kim_Minugh.