A Des Moines, WA woman who claimed that her husband's murder was a plan to escape from his abuse has been sentenced to 22 years in prison following her guilty plea to 1st degree murder last month. Velma Ogden-Whitehead's claims of grief and abuse held no sway with Judge Steven Gonzalez as he sentenced her Thursday.
"Domestic violence victims deserve our compassion and resources, but the domestic violence victim is not you. Your claims of abuse and suffering, I must say, are hollow."
Ronald Whitehead, 61, was shot 4 times and shoved from his car near Sea-Tac airport. Her son and his friend are facing 1st degree murder trials later this year. Ogden-Whitehead claimed that the murder was a auto theft plot gone wrong, and asked for forgiveness Thursday.
"I deeply regret that I took matters into my own hands instead of letting the police and the courts sort out the mess between my husband and I."
Defense attorney Jonathan Newcomb said the woman had told people her husband abused her long before he was killed and even showed them injuries. He also said she suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis and would probably be in a wheelchair by the time she gets out of prison -- if she lives that long.
But Whitehead's daughter was adamant that the "trusting, honorable man and loving, dependable father" did not abuse anyone. She and others said the false claim was just another attempt to manipulate and wring sympathy from people.
"Velma Ogden-Whitehead killed my father simply because she wanted his money," Kimberley Whitehead said. "She may not have pulled the trigger, but what she did was worse."
She told the judge she was now an orphan who would not have her father to walk her down the aisle, see his future grandchildren or dispense advice.
"She believed she had everyone fooled -- that my father was the victim of a random carjacking," she said. "She does not deserve to ever be free again."
Her fiance, Jay Hildebrand, said Ogden-Whitehead even made it impossible for relatives to grieve peacefully because she had her name added to Whitehead's headstone, a sight he called disgusting. He called her an "incredible, manipulative liar" who sought out interviews with the media and attended support groups for violent crime victims -- people who were unknowingly "sitting in the room, sharing their innermost feelings with a murderer."
Prosecutors and Newcomb recommended the low end of the usual 20- to 27-year sentence as part of a plea agreement, though the judge added two years. Ogden-Whitehead's son, Jonathan Ogden, and his friend, Wilson Sayachack, both have pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Sayachuk's attorneys say he had nothing to do with Whitehead's death.
Whitehead was allegedly killed by Sayachuk on March 18, 2005, as he was entering his car. Sayachuck allegedly hid in the backseat with a gun, and jumped up to shoot him. For a year, Ogden-Whitehead plead to justice in her husband's death, all the while, having an affair with a younger 26 year old man.
"Domestic violence victims deserve our compassion and resources, but the domestic violence victim is not you. Your claims of abuse and suffering, I must say, are hollow."
Ronald Whitehead, 61, was shot 4 times and shoved from his car near Sea-Tac airport. Her son and his friend are facing 1st degree murder trials later this year. Ogden-Whitehead claimed that the murder was a auto theft plot gone wrong, and asked for forgiveness Thursday.
"I deeply regret that I took matters into my own hands instead of letting the police and the courts sort out the mess between my husband and I."
Defense attorney Jonathan Newcomb said the woman had told people her husband abused her long before he was killed and even showed them injuries. He also said she suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis and would probably be in a wheelchair by the time she gets out of prison -- if she lives that long.
But Whitehead's daughter was adamant that the "trusting, honorable man and loving, dependable father" did not abuse anyone. She and others said the false claim was just another attempt to manipulate and wring sympathy from people.
"Velma Ogden-Whitehead killed my father simply because she wanted his money," Kimberley Whitehead said. "She may not have pulled the trigger, but what she did was worse."
She told the judge she was now an orphan who would not have her father to walk her down the aisle, see his future grandchildren or dispense advice.
"She believed she had everyone fooled -- that my father was the victim of a random carjacking," she said. "She does not deserve to ever be free again."
Her fiance, Jay Hildebrand, said Ogden-Whitehead even made it impossible for relatives to grieve peacefully because she had her name added to Whitehead's headstone, a sight he called disgusting. He called her an "incredible, manipulative liar" who sought out interviews with the media and attended support groups for violent crime victims -- people who were unknowingly "sitting in the room, sharing their innermost feelings with a murderer."
Prosecutors and Newcomb recommended the low end of the usual 20- to 27-year sentence as part of a plea agreement, though the judge added two years. Ogden-Whitehead's son, Jonathan Ogden, and his friend, Wilson Sayachack, both have pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Sayachuk's attorneys say he had nothing to do with Whitehead's death.
Whitehead was allegedly killed by Sayachuk on March 18, 2005, as he was entering his car. Sayachuck allegedly hid in the backseat with a gun, and jumped up to shoot him. For a year, Ogden-Whitehead plead to justice in her husband's death, all the while, having an affair with a younger 26 year old man.
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