The wife - from the city of Bluffdale in Utah - was arguing with her husband about him talking to the other woman, police said.

Using her husband’s phone, she allegedly texted the woman and said he had shot his wife and didn’t know what to do, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

The woman called 911 and emergency responders from three departments showed up and “set up containment” around the house.

However, the supposedly dead wife reportedly came outside and confessed that she had sent the texts to see if her husband’s mistress would have helped him cover up the crime.

She has now been charged with filing a false emergency report involving an injury or death, which carries a sentence of up to five years in jail, and misdemeanour criminal mischief.