Kristin Mitchell Myers, 35, is charged with felony first-degree murder in the Dec. 22 killing of Larry Myers, 44.
Magistrate Cissy Chapman set Myers' bond at $250,000 and scheduled a hearing for Jan. 13.
Myers told the court she could not afford an attorney and wished to have one appointed for her.
Friends and relatives of the couple, married since 2006, attended the arraignment.
Pauline Myers, no relation, worked side by side with the couple more than four years at the Viskase Corp. plant in Loudon. She said she never heard the two argue. She also saw them leave in good spirits after their shift ended Dec. 21.
"I about fell down when I heard," she said.
According to Loudon Detective Mike Newman, the couple were apparently having difficulties.
Larry Myers was in the process of moving out of his house on Huffland Drive on Tuesday when he was shot in the back, Newman said. His body was discovered the next morning in the front yard of the home.
Authorities began searching for Kristin Myers immediately and found her a few hours later at the EconoLodge Motel in Lenoir City. Newman said Myers admitted shooting her husband.
"It seemed like she was just waiting for us," Newman said. "She has been cooperating fully with us in the investigation."
Newman said Myers told him she threw away the 9mm semiautomatic handgun she used to shoot her husband. The search for the pistol is continuing, he said.
Loudon Police Chief James "Bear" Webb said this was the first murder inside the Loudon city limits in at least 30 years.