Man's life sentence for murder attempt on wife upheld on appeal

Frederick Evrod Jones, 56, of Columbia, MD, attempted to overturn by appealing his life sentence handed down in December 2006 for the brutal machete attack on his now ex-wife. He failed in that endeavor.

Jones and his lawyer, Louis Wellemin went in front of an appellate judicial panel to argue that instead of life, Jones should have been sentenced to 12-20 years for the most serious charge, attempted murder. Besides the murder attempt, Jones was convicted of 1st degree assault and violation of a protective order.

On April 23, Jones' attorney, Louis Wellemin, argued to the three-judge panel — Howard County Circuit Court judges Louis Becker, Diane Leasure and Richard Bernhardt — that Jones, who had stopped short of killing his wife, should be sentenced according to state sentencing guidelines for attempted first-degree murder, of which Jones was convicted.Those guidelines, Willemin said, should reduce the sentence to between 12 and 20 years.

But Assistant State’s Attorney Claude de Vastey Jones emphasized the brutal nature of the crime, stressing that Jones had hid behind a trash can and waited for his wife, and that her skull had been cracked. She said Jones’ ex-wife still has to wear makeup and style her hair in a particular way to conceal the scars.

The decision, which was released Thursday, April 30, states that “Given the conduct of the defendant in the perpetration of the offense, the permanent and potentially fatal injuries suffered by the victim, and the circumstances of the offenses, the sentence imposed by Judge [Lenore] Gelfman was not excessive or unjust.”