Wife gets life without parole for at least 20 years for son's murder of husband

A woman who conspired along with her 20 year old son to kill the woman's husband was sentenced to life without parole for at least 20 years in a Topeka, KS courtroom Thursday, February 17.

44 year old Michelle Eberhardt was convicted of felony 1st degree murder for the murder by her son of 51-year-old Gerald “Jerry” Eberhardt. Judge Debenham said to the perpetrator, "You have violated the trust between a husband and a wife.[The family's] pain and suffering won't end today. It will continue for the rest of their lives." The shooting death rook place on October 25, 2009. Michelle's plea to felony 1st degree murder spared her a trial on premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation to commit murder.

Scott M. Mosher, 20, the alleged triggerman in his stepfather's murder, is scheduled to go on trial June 13 for premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder

According to facts presented in Eberhardt's plea, Michelle Eberhardt and Mosher had talked about killing her husband, a used car dealer in Topeka. Mosher said he knew someone who would kill Jerry Eberhardt for $2,000. Michelle paid the money, but Jerry Eberhardt wasn't shot. She negotiated with the man who had taken the $2,000, but the man wanted more money and a car from the lot.

Mosher told Michelle he had a pistol and would take care of the slaying. Michelle Eberhardt said the house at 2538 S.E. Shawnee Heights Road would be empty Oct. 25, 2009, after 12:30 a.m., and at 1:30 a.m., she heard a gunshot. When she found her husband, he was sitting up in bed in the master bedroom of the family home.

A third defendant, Derrick Dwayne Haase, now 21, of Topeka, pleaded no contest April 26 to a reduced charge of reckless second-degree murder. On July 22, Haase was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months in prison.

The victim's father, Duane Eberhardt, said that the Eberhardts tried to welcome Michelle and her two children, but that she was "unberable" and a "rat." Like good parents do, Duane tried to convince his son to divorce her, but Jerry claimed to still be in "love" with her. "Dad, I know you're right, but I love her," Jerry told his dad. "You’ve stolen part of my future. The father said he intended to live long enough "to urinate on you and your son's graves because neither one of you will survive your prison sentences."

The victim's mother Mary said that her son would protect his wife after Mosher would beat her when she refused to give him money for drugs. However, she repaid that concern with betrayal when after the murder, Michelle told Shawnee County deputies her husband was responsible for his murder. “Why? Why did you do it? Jerry loved you. We loved your family. Why did you betray us...“You killed Jerry. Scott just pulled the trigger. What mother would encourage her son to kill? You threw your son under the bus.”

At least one Topeka Capital-Journal commenter said that Jerry should have listened to his father instead of his heart regarding Michelle.

pleasurestud said,

Too bad the guy stayed with that wicked woman. He should have listened to his family to dump her sorry ass. In the end he loses his wife over "love"............whatever. It wasn't love.

Mother sentenced to 9 years prison, 5 years post release supervision for stabbing husband

A mother who stabbed her husband in the same house that their kids lived in was sentenced to 9 years in the New York state prison system and 5 years post release supervision for the attack. According to prosecutors, this stemmed from a desire to cash in on a life insurance policy. The mother was sentenced in Saratoga County Court Judge Jerry Scarano's courtroom on December 2, 2010.

On the night of Nov. 9, 2009, deputies from the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call made by Thomas Vautrin from the home the couple shared with their two children, who were then 5 and 10 years old. Police arrived to discover both Thomas and Mary Jane had suffered serious stab wounds, and the couple were taken for treatment at Albany Medical Center.

Mary Jane Vautrin, 36, initially told police she was attacked by her husband. But investigators said her wounds were self-inflicted, so she was arrested and charged with a six-count indictment that included second-degree attempted murder. Those charges were later dropped in favor of a first-degree felony assault charge as part of a negotiated plea deal.

The stabbing incident was believed to be part of a plan to cash in on a life insurance policy in excess of $30,000, which the woman allegedly forged in her husband's name.

The victim impact statement by Thomas Vautrin,"We had a normal life, normal kids, normal problems. That changed one night about a year ago. On that night, I woke up to my wife stabbing me...Why would you want me dead?"

"When I was in the hospital, I prayed not to live through this," said Thomas Vautrin, who has "14 visible scars. "I can't deny I love you," Thomas Vautrin said to his wife in court Thursday morning.
He went on to explain, however, that the attack has had significant repercussions."The (children), pulled from their beds, seeing the blood-splattered walls ..." he said, his voice trailing off in the courtroom.

Thomas also read victim impact statements from the couple's two children. "I can't see you. I can't snuggle with you...No more doing holiday stuff. No putting up the tree. No Halloween with us," the younger child said.

Besides the prison sentence, Scarano issued a permanent order of protection for the victim against his wife.

Text messaging "lovers" receive life without parole in murder of woman's husband

Monterey County, CA Judge Larry Hayes sentenced a mother and her "lover" to life without parole for kidnapping and killing the woman's husband.  Marisela Zarate Andrade, 33, and Sergio de la Cruz, 34, were sentenced to life without parole Tuesday, September 14 for the murder of Jose "Nicco" Zarate of Wasco, CA. Zarate was kidnapped April 11, 2008 from his home and his body was found three days later in the trunk of a Ford Escort near Gonzales, CA vineyard with his hands and feet bound with duct tape, shot between the eyes.

The evidence which convicted the two was collected by Monterey County Sheriff's detective Brett Speirs. These included text messages which spoke of how Marisela and De La Cruz intended to kidnap and kill Jose. Marisela would drug her husband's coffee with chloroform, then De La Cruz and another man would kidnap Jose from his Wasco home. After killing Jose, Marisela wanted De La Cruz to behead her husband to make sure "the rat (is) very dead." The pistol used to kill Jose was recovered in San Francicso during a drug raid.

She gave police different statements about the last time she saw him. When confronted with the text messages, she admitted she participated in the plan to have her husband abducted, but insisted she only wanted him beaten up, a claim she maintained at trial.

Noting that he had received a letter from Zarate Andrade prior to sentencing, Hayes said Tuesday the woman was in denial. He said the length of time the two spent planning the murder, and the content of the text messages, showed the extent of the cruelty they intended to inflict on the victim.

Judge Hayes said,"In some ways you are both very lucky the DA did not choose to (seek) the death penalty in this case. That's how atrocious this murder was." Prosecutor David Gross could have sought the death penalty because Zarate's murder occurred duing the course of a kidnapping.

Besides the life without parole sentenced, Judge Hayes sentenced Marisela to an additional 8 years for kidnapping and De La Cruz to an additional 33 to life for kidnapping and executing the victim. Hayes stayed both sentences. The victim's family attended the sentencing.

Woman who allegedly staged shotgun murder of husband charged

A Minnesota woman who claimed that intruders killed her husband was charged with 2nd degree murder in Blue Earth County, MN on September 10. 26 year old James Nibbe was found shot to death early the morning of August 31 in his Lake Crystal, MN home. Jennifer claimed a masked intruder took James' shotgun, killed him, then fled on foot. Police poked holes in the story after learning that there were no footprints out of the house and that the Labrador the couple owned had stayed asleep during the killing.

Charges cite journal entries by Jennifer Nibbe that chronicle her dissatisfaction with her two-year marriage, her interest in another man and how "Sometimes I wish I could go back to just [my son, who is 17] and I plugging along."

The complaint describes Jennifer Nibbe, a nurse, as addicted to painkillers and deeply in debt. Just two months before he was killed with a single shotgun blast to the head, James Nibbe, 26, had taken out a $250,000 life insurance policy, naming his wife as the beneficiary.

On September 13, a judge set bail at $600,000 in front of a courtroom packed with both the suspect and the victim's family.

Woman gets 6-15 years for blasting husband while sleeping

A 48 year old Michigan woman was sentenced on August 11, 2010 to 6-15 years in prison for shooting her husband, a Michigan State trooper, to death. 53 year old Sgt. Melvin Paul Holbrook was killed with gunshot blasts from his service revolver to his body on August 11, 2009. Both lived in the Michigan town of Beulah.

Joni Holbrook shot her husband multiple times as he slept in their Benzie County home, then called 911 and reported the incident. She pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder after agreeing to a last-minute plea deal the day before her jury trial was set to begin.

Joni Holbrook told [Benzie Circuit Judge James]Batzer when she entered her plea that she killed her husband because he subjected her to years of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Batzer later told the Record-Eagle that Holbrook's attorneys had "considerable evidence" she had been sexually battered and abused, and he took that evidence into account for her sentence.

Joni's statement to her victim's family echoed those remarks. ""I am sorry that my actions have taken someone so special away from you," she said. "I don't look at myself as a killer. I look at myself as a survivor."

Joni's attorney Jesse Williams said that the sentenced for her husband's killing, "a matter of self defense," was better than he thought. "The outcome was better than people expected. I didn't know what to expect. This court and this judge gave her a fair shake down."

State police Lt. Bill Elliott, who worked with the victim at the Traverse City post for two decades, said "It's just a very difficult situation. I don't know what the right answer would have been, but I was surprised to hear how lenient the sentence was." The victim's sister, Meleen Froman, said "I just think it's a mockery. I just think it's sad. I'm a little angry now." Froman traveled from Oklahoma to MIchigan for the sentencing.

Judge Batner explained to the detractors of the plea deal why their was a 15 year maximum for Joni's sentencing. "The law is an imperfect vehicle, but it's what we have. I know this sentence is going to be unsatisfactory to parties aligned on both sides. There is nothing that this court can do ... that can make it satisfactory."

Entrepreneur & father of three killed - wife and employee charged in love triangle slaying

A West Goshen, Pennsylvania father of three and entrenpreneur was poisoned and bludgeoned to death with a shovel before being buried in a shallow grave next to a high school. The suspects are the victim's wife, 34 year old Morgan Mengel and 22 year old employee Stephen Shappell. The victim, according to police, is 33 year old Kevin Mengel Jr.  The suspects are 34 year old Morgan Mengel and Stephen Shappell, 22. According to the wife's Facebook page, they had been married since August 1998. The couple have 3 children.

According to officials, the plot began when Morgan and Steve began to "fall in love" at the business that the victim and Morgan ran together, M.K.B. Property Management LLC. The company does landscaping for homeowners and other property owners.

On June 17, she reportedly said, Shappell placed "some sort of drug" in a lemon Snapple, which Morgan Mengel then left on the hood of the pickup truck for Kevin Mengel to find. No one else who worked at the business drank Snapple, she reportedly told police, and she knew Kevin Mengel would drink it.

A short time later, according to court documents, she received a text from Shappell that said he had struck Kevin Mengel in the head with a shovel.

She reportedly asked if he was serious and he replied, "Dead serious." She then asked if there was a "pulse," police reports said, to which he replied "Get down here now." Morgan Mengel reportedly told police that Shappell told her he buried Kevin Mengel's body approximately 150 yards behind Marple Newtown High School, where he had been a student.

The beginning of the end for Morgan Mengel and Shappell's freedom came on Father's Day, when Kathleen Barton reported her son missing. She noted that her daughter-in-law told her that she had seen Kevin move out of their West Goshen, PA apartment on June 18. Still suspicious, Kathleen monitored her son's Facebook page and told West Goshen detectives about the affair. After her son's Facebook page was updated in a different style than he would use on June 23, detectives went to the victim's apartment.

While Morgan gave police the same story that she gave her mother-in-law, detectives saw the victim's clothes and toothbrush in the apartment. After being taken to the police station for an interview, Morgan Mengel admitted the affair and the murder.

According to West Goshen Police Department Chief Michael J. Carroll, "Normally a report of a missing person who's a 33-year-old adult male is sometimes not taken as seriously because they have the absolute right to be missing, they can go wherever they want to go. During the course of the week it became clear to our department that this was more than just a missing person case."

 We were able to identify and locate the victim by the use of a cadaver dog that was brought to us by the Search and Rescue Dogs of Pennsylvania in Malvern. I can tell you without the use of this dog, we would not have been able to find this body.

It's a very tragic case. The victim was the father of three children. Obviously the children have lost their father and with what has gone on so far they're going to lose their mother for an extended period of time.

Shappell was arrested in Denver the evening of Sunday, June 27. Carroll said "This was a direct result of cooperation between departments. It was through an investigation here. We knew where to look for him."

It is unknown what charges he'll face when he is extradited to Pennsylvania, but Morgan Mengel will be facing 1st degree murder and criminal homicide.

Domestic violence coordinator guilty of assaulting husband over alleged affair - sentenced to DV counseling

(Original Post 5-29-10)

A director of a Michigan domestic violence shelter was convicted of attacking her husband over an alleged affair on May 18, 2010. 46 year old LaDonna Glenn was convicted of felonious assault, which carries a maximum 4 year prison term and a $2,000 fine for threatening her husband with a hammer September 24 at their Southfield, MI condo. An Oakland County jury found her guilty after only two hours of deliberation.  Oakland County Circuit Judge Martha Anderson will sentence Glenn June 21.

She was accused of going Sept. 24 to her and her husband’s condominium in Southfield, beating on the door with a hammer and twice raising the tool at her husband, George Glenn, 69, whom she alleged was unfaithful. LaDonna Glenn was arrested after George Glenn told police he had to grab his wife’s hands and wrestle her to the floor to remove the hammer from her grip, according to a Southfield Police Department report. She had been hitting a glass table with it and calling her husband a cheater.

When officers, who were summoned by a neighbor, arrived at the home, George Glenn was sitting on LaDonna Glenn as she lay on her stomach, pinning down her hands at the wrist, according to the report. LaDonna Glenn told officers her husband forced her into the living room and threw her to the ground, hurting her right knee. She went to a hospital before going to jail.

LaDonna Glenn is the domestic violence coordinator of AWARE, Inc, an organization which serves victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse/assault in the Jackson, MI area. AWARE's executive director Rebecca Filip and president Bree Thurlby did not comment, but released the following statement:

AWARE cannot comment on the exact circumstances surrounding an employee matter due to employee confidentiality and the law,” according to a letter submitted by the board last week to the [Jackson, MI]Citizen Patriot.

When the legal process is complete, the board determines what action it must take as an employer on a case-by-case basis. Issues involving AWARE’s employees are addressed pursuant to the agency’s policies and procedures. The board fully supports its executive director and all employees.

(Update 6-22-10) LaDonna Glenn was sentenced to a year probation, domestic violence and anger management treatment, and must abstain from posessing deadly weapons or engaging in assaultive behavior. The sentencing took place yesterday in Circuit Judge Martha Anderson's courtroom. Glenn was fired from her job as the AWARE domestic violence coordinator.

Wife of Nashville attorney gets life in strangling death

A Nashville woman who got her husband drunk then strangled him by wrapping a cell phone cord around his neck was sentenced to life without parole for at least 51 years last Thursday. Kelley Cannon was found guilty of 1st degree murder in the strangulation death of her husband James "Jim" Cannon on June 23, 2008. The verdict and sentence were handed down by a Davidson County court Thursday, April 29, after an hour of deliberation.

A cleaning lady found his body in a bedroom closet in his 710 Bowling Ave. home. Kelley Cannon claimed she went to the home the previous evening and found the back door open and no sign of her husband.

However, investigations found discolored pants from bleach Kelley used to try to destroy DNA, and gloves stolen from a Walgreens which matched gloves found at the scene of the murder.

Witnesses called by the prosecution testified about forensic evidence that officials said link Kelley to the murder scene including the tip of a latex glove that contained her DNA.

Brad Putnam was the lead investigator in the murder case. He told the jury Wednesday he found a box of gloves at Kelley's home the day after Jim was found dead in his Green Hills home. "I noticed a box of latex gloves, and the name brand was Walgreens. The corner of the box was missing," said Putnam.

Prosecutors said the tip of glove found at the crime scene contains Kelley's DNA on the inside, and her husband's on the outside. The jury also saw surveillance video showing Kelley taking a box of gloves from a nearby Walgreens the same night as the murder.

In a phone conversation played to the jury Wednesday, Kelley explained to a friend that she used the gloves when coloring her hair.

Prosecution witnesses brought up implied Kelley's motive for the murder was anger at her husband's affairs, her anger of Jim's full custody of their 3 children, and to cover up her own affair. Rick Greene, a "lover" of Kelley, stated he believed Kelley knew about the murder of Jim. "I said look me in the eye and tell me you didn't know his body was in the closet. She said ‘Rick, I can't tell you anything because I don't want you to have to lie.'"

Aaron Bagley, a Smynra bartender, stated that she told him "He was flying women to come see him in other states. They were going through a divorce, and if he tried to take the babies from her that she would kill him."

Her attorney Peter Strianse, said at 5' 3" and around 100 pounds, she was simply too weak to commit the crime. He also tried to convince the jury that police did a sloppy job investigating the case. He argued they didn't check thoroughly on other potential suspects, and did not proceed carefully enough in evidence gathering.

Jurors found that  the victim's blood alcohol content of 0.15 and willingness of the defendant to murder overcomes body strength differences.

After the verdict, Jim's family offered this statement.

We are grateful to have this behind us. We feel that justice has been served, and thank the members of the jury for their careful attention to the facts of the case. Our family appreciates the efforts of the local authorities, and the support and well-wishes of everyone as we return our focus onto our family.

Kelley's mother, Diane Sanders, told reporters, "I still believe in my heart that my daughter didn't do this deed. There are some things that didn't come out that should have been."

Assistant DA Katy Miller said "Whenever there's a death involved and three children have lost their father, it's not victory but justice was done. Still it's a sad day all around." The children have filed a $40 million wrongful death lawsuit against their mother regarding their father's death.

Lehigh Acres, FL woman sentenced to 25 years prison, 10 years probation for murder of sleeping husband

A Lehigh Acres, FL woman who murdered her husband while he was sleeping then staged a phony abduction of her self and her kids was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by 10 years probation Monday, April 26, in a Lee County courtroom. The woman plead guilty to 2nd degree murder in the attack on her husband took place August 11, 2008. Child abuse charges, for the phony abduction story, were dropped as part of the plea deal. The phony abduction took place  with the help of Amber duct taping her kids. The husband suffered 6 gunshot wounds to the head.

Amber Rose Roberts, [then] 24, had at first told Lee County sheriff's deputies that she and her two young children had been kidnapped. That was how she explained why they were walking in the area of Greenbriar Boulevard while her husband, John Roberts, 27, was dead in bed, having suffered from multiple gunshot wounds.

But according to detective William Murphy, the stories Amber Roberts told didn't add up.

"When confronted with the inconsistencies, Amber Roberts confessed to shooting John Roberts multiple times with a .9 mm handgun," Murphy reported. "She also confessed that the alleged kidnapping was false. The information provided by Roberts was consistent with the physical evidence gathered at the scene. Amber Roberts also escorted detectives to multiple locations and additional evidence was recovered."

One of those locations was the canal at the corner of 32nd Street West and Ann Avenue, where deputies found the gun.

John Roberts' body was found by a deputy who arrived at the couple's 16th Street West home to serve eviction papers. Their home had been in foreclosure. They had lived there with their 7-month-old son and Amber's 5-year-old son.

The victim's cousin, Robbin Brophy said that two weeks before the murder at a family function, things seemed to be going smoothly and asked this pointed question of her cousin's killer. “Who made you judge, jury and executioner of John’s life? Do you realize how many lives you have ruined?” Brophy also said that "If there was a problem, you could have come to any one of us.” Brophy was one of almost 20 family members of the victim present. Assistant State Attorney Dan Feinberg said they would have liked to have seen a harsher sentence, but understand the criminal justice system.

Amber Roberts said little except to answer mostly yes and no questions from prosecutors.[She] had planned on using battered wife syndrome as a defense, and she said she agreed with the strategy of her attorney, David Goldberg, who didn’t take the deposition of law enforcement officers in the case. Instead, he deposed rebuttal witnesses who could testify about that defense.

“I was just going by what he was looking at in my best interests,” was the lengthiest statement Amber Roberts said.Goldberg said the battered spouse syndrome was a viable defense, but the plea was in her best interests.

The son she had before her marriage with her victim is in the care of relatives. The whereabouts of the child she had with her victim is unknown. Amber should be released in a little under 20 years, assuming she gets all of her good time credits.

Boulder, CO woman who stabbed husband in heart pleads to negligent homicide - gets 90 days JAIL with work release

(Original Post 2-13-10)

A 32 year old Boulder, CO woman who stabbed her husband pled guilty to criminal negligent homicide after stabbing her husband, John Houseman, to death with a kitchen knife. Traci Housman was originally charged with 2nd degree murder, which carried a sentence of 10-32 years in prison. Criminally negligent homicide carries a 1-3 year prison sentence. In 2007, the couple met on Myspace after a 20 year off and on relationship. They were married in June 2008.

Boulder County District Court Judge Maria Berkenkotter has discretion in sentencing as the guilty plea was "blind." Matthew Connell, Traci's public defender, plans to ask for a probation sentence for his client because of the victim's history of domestic violence. Police reports and one of John's ex-wives tell of his violent tendencies. He was ticked by police in 2001 after death threats and "basking her face in."

According to police, Housman stabbed her husband once in the chest with a kitchen knife during an altercation in their 2994 23rd St. home early on Aug. 2. Housman told investigators that they had been drinking on the Pearl Street Mall earlier in the night and ended up at a nearby sushi restaurant, where John Housman started telling people, "I'm gay," according to a police report.

Traci Housman told detectives that her husband had told her years ago that he was bisexual, and she had no problem with it. But, according to police, she told him that night "that it was disrespectful for him to announce this to everyone since they were married."

They got into an argument, and Traci Housman decided to walk home, the report said. When she arrived, her husband was waiting, "and he was angry," according to the report.

Traci Housman told police that her husband pushed her into a wall, grabbed her hair and hit her head several times. She told detectives that he pushed her head into a glass framed picture, causing it to break, and she eventually got away to grab a knife from the kitchen, according to police.

"Traci said she poked out at John with one of the knives she had grabbed, and he suddenly stopped his attack," the report said.

Housman said she ran to the backyard, and when she went back into the house, she found John Housman sitting up against a wall with a large wound where she had "poked him," the report said. She immediately began CPR, according to police, and called 911 twice.

Stewart Lundstrom, Traci's brother, said "We are saddened that we can't be there for her with such an important choice to make. Please note that although we are stuck here, our hearts are with Traci, whatever her decision may be." Lundstrom and Traci's mother attended all of her hearings except the plea agreement, which they missed due to a snowstorm. Traci will be sentenced on April 23, and is being held in the Boulder County Jail on $250,000 bail.

(Update 4-27-10) Last Friday, Housman was sentenced by Boulder County District Court Judge Maria Berkenkotter to 7 years probation, 400 hours of community service and 90 days in the Boulder County jail's work release program. "It's completely undisputed that Mrs. Housman stabbed Mr. Housman...The dents in the wall that were made by John slamming Mrs. Housman's head into the wall are powerful evidence of what happened that evening...I am persuaded that Mrs. Housman is genuinely and profoundly remorseful for her actions."

Hope Housman, the victim's daughter, had a letter about the loss of her father read by Boulder County Deputy District Attorney David Cheval. "I was daddy's girl. I never thought about how life would be without daddy. Words can't explain how I feel. There's a hole in my heart."

None of John Housman's family members or friends were in the courtroom Friday, while numerous friends and family members showed up to support Traci Housman. Deputy District Attorney Amy Okubo said John Housman's supporters stayed away because they didn't want to hear bad things about the man they loved.

Matthew Connell, defense attorney for Housman, said he didn't want to insult John Housman during the hearing, "but I don't know how to talk about this case and ignore the fact that John Housman was very severely beating up Traci Housman that night."

Traci herself said in mitigation, "I know how excited they [John and Hope]were for all those things, and now [Hope will] have to feel his absence at all of those milestones...But John was different that night. I saw it in his eyes...I really loved John, and I still do. Know that I never wanted this to happen."

The 90 day jail sentence will be suspended once Traci finds employment, something a defense attorney said will be at a local gas station. As for the community service, her father John Lundstrom said "The community service -- that's not punishment to her. That's what she loves to do."

El Paso, TX woman gets light sentence for killing husband with knife

An El Paso, TX woman will only be in jail for a little under 2 months after her conviction of criminally negligent homicide in the stabbing death of her husband. Judge Bonnie Rangel sentenced the woman to 2 years after jurors acquitted her of murder and manslaughter on Friday. The killer, 25 year old Leslie Alvarado, was convicted of stabbing to death 32 year old Leopoldo Mosqueda, who bled to death after being attacked on November 4, 2007.

Both the prosecution and defense attorney accepted that Alvarado stabbed her husband in the arm intentionally. However, there were differences in their arguments about why the killing happened. The trial, presided over by 171st District Court Judge Bonnie Rangel, began Monday with closing arguments on Thursday.

During his closing argument Thursday, [defense attorney Ruben]Hernandez said that Alvarado stabbed her husband in self-defense.He argued that Leopoldo Mosqueda had tried to rape her the night he died. If Alvarado had wanted to kill Mosqueda, she would have stabbed him in a vital organ and not in the arm, he said.

But Assistant District Attorney Scott Ferguson argued that Alvarado purposely selected a large knife for the attack. Ferguson took the knife that killed Mosqueda and stabbed the air in front of the jury during his closing argument. "When you stab someone like this in the arm, two or three times, you know at the very least that she's intending to cause death or serious bodily injury," he said.

Ferguson also argued that a taped jail conversation of Alvarado showed that she had a motive for killing her husband because she had a relationship with a woman.

On Wednesday, April 21, prosecutors brought up an August 2003 incident in which Alvarado allegedly hit her husband with a bat, but the victim dropped charges. Dr. Timothy Proctor reviewed the records of both the victim and defendant, with the records showing that Alverado had been abused regularly, and Mosqueda was diagnosed as bipolar. "It was a very chaotic relationship, and what I saw was mutual aggression," Proctor said.

After Judge Rangel's sentencing, the victim's sister, Maria Teresa Mosqueda, said that despite the strained relationship with her brother, "I can never forgive you. Never." Hernandez told reporters "I think we're still happy with the result because it wasn't a murder. She didn't plan it, and she didn't want that result."

Judge Rangel sentenced Alvarado to 2 years for aggravated assault for attacking Vickie Dobson at a mall, causing head injuries.The aggravated assault sentence will be served concurrently with the homicide charges.

Salt Lake City mom sentenced to jail for bashing estranged husband with hammer

A Salt Lake City, UT mother who admitted "surprising" her husband with a hammer attack after leading him down to her parents' basement was sentenced to 30 days in jail, three years of probation, a $250 fine and 200 hours of community service Monday, April 19. Amy Teresa Ricks, 37, was given the light sentence mainly because her victim, her estranged husband Joel Ricks told the judge he still loved his wife and that prison would be hard on their daughters.

Ricks was initially charged with attempted murder, a first-degree felony, for the May 4, 2007, attack that took place in her parents' Holladay condominium. The couple had gone out for dinner and returned to the condo where they started kissing.

Joel Ricks told police his wife then told him, "I've got a surprise for you." Amy Ricks blindfolded her husband, led him downstairs, spun him around in circles and told him to count to 100. After Joel Ricks was hit with the hammer, prosecutors said, he pulled off the blindfold, spotted sleeping bags, a knife and plastic bags nearby, and ran off to get help.

The perpetrator's attorney Susanne Gustin said her client is "a kind person, a smart person, a wonderful mother," Gustin said. "She's working full time and is the sole support of this family. She's not a danger to the community or anybody else. This happened because of mental pressure. She was a battered spouse."

Amy Ricks herself said I don't want to be separated from my children for any time, I am with them all the time," she said. "The last two years have been a nightmare for everyone. I'm sorry for it and I just want it to be over."

Prosecutor Tupakk Renteria disputed Amy's claim of abuse and said that even if it was the case, that doesn't excusing luring a victim down to a basement under false pretenses.
 
3rd District Judge William Barrett said that while the punishment for the attack needed to be severe enough to act as a deterrent, "Sometimes I hate this job.This was a tragic case and is a tragic case." Amy must report to jail on April 27. Her husband still has a no-contact order issued against her.

"Wife" sentenced to 5 years probation for murder-for-hire plot

A woman who was accused of soliciting the murder of her now ex-husband got off with 5 years of deferred adjudication and an no contact order for the victim and their three children. Catherine Shamp was sentenced Wednesday morning in a Houston courtroom. Catherine Shamp could have received 99 years in prison.

The Shamps' bizarre story started in November, when a confidential informant -- later identified as Nathan Blake, the ex-boyfriend of the Shamps' daughter, 18-year-old Ashley Shamp -- contacted Texas' Harris County Sheriff's Office and said Catherine Shamp had asked him to kill David Shamp, police said.

The sheriff's homicide department equipped Blake with recording devices before he met again with Catherine Shamp. That conversation was recorded. "The CI [Blake] recorded Catherine Shamp stating she wanted her husband murdered and would be willing to pay the 'hit man' approximately $20,000," the sheriff's office said in a statement in December.

Armed with the recording, police arrested Catherine Shamp in late November. Two days later, police arrested Ashley Shamp for allegedly being involved in the plot, but she was later released.

Ashley said that while her mother talked about getting rid of the victim, she believed that it was a joke. "She pulled me into the spare bedroom and said sort of laughing, 'Hey, I bought these pills, let's put them in your dad's beer,' and I was like, 'Why would you do that?'"

The victim was shocked to learn about the plot, believing that it was a prank at first, but his disbelief turned to devastation after police showed him recordings of his wife soliciting the hitman. David had spent Thanksgiving with the perp's parents, and there seemed to be no problems in the Shamp marriage.

The reason why Catherine did not get prison was because Harris County Assistant District Attorney Kari Allen said that the victim wanted it. "From the very beginning, he stated he did not want his wife, the mother of his children, to be put away," she said. In the courtroom, David said, "I just want to say to her the pain she gave this family, not just me, her parents, my parents." That pain included losing their home and a car.

Outside the courtroom, he said, "I have to [forgive] because I'm raising three children and if I keep that anger bottled up inside of me, then I'm going to take that home and my children are going to feed off of that anger."

Wife who set fire, ran over husband sentenced to life without parole

A woman who murdered her husband was sentenced to life without parole by a Michigan judge Monday, February 8. Linda Kay Stermer, 45, was found guilty by a Van Buren County circuit court jury of 1st degree and felony murder. On Jan. 7, 2007, Sterner set fire to the house she shared with her husband and sons. Her husband was incapacitated by the perpetrator by either medicine or a hit upside the head, according to prosecution witnesses.

Todd Stermer, 42, made it out of the house, according to testimony, but was run over by a van driven by his wife and died shortly after emergency personnel arrived.

Michigan State Police investigators testified during the five-day trial that the fire at the residence in the 66500 block of County Road 215 was deliberately set. Forensic laboratory specialists said Todd Stermer’s clothing had gasoline on them and a gas station employee testified to seeing Linda Stermer purchased gasoline that she dispensed into a container earlier on the day of the fire.

There was testimony linking Linda Stermer to another man, that she and Todd Stermer had been arguing and that she had sent their boys to a Kalamazoo mall on the day of the fire.

Even after her conviction and sentencing, Linda still claimed innocence. “I didn’t set the fire. I did not kill my husband. And at this point, I fully believe that it was not arson, either.”

Brad Sterner, the victim's brother, shot back, saying “The jury didn’t get it wrong, Linda. They got it right. When you go to prison, we will be relieved that his children will be safe and you’ll never hurt anyone again."

Helping those kids become productive adults will be part of Sandra Stermer's job. She thanked prosecutors for speaking for her. “I hadn’t thought about standing up to speak. The police, the prosecutors, the jury got it right. They spoke for me.”

Scorned "lovers" get probation, community service for gluing man's members to stomach

For women who admitted to gluing their "lover's" penis to his stomach were sentenced to probation Tuesday in a Calument County, WI courtroom. Therese Ziemann, 48, of Menasha; Michelle Belliveau, 43, of Neenah; Wendy Sewell, 44, of Kaukauna; and 31-year-old Tracy Hood-Davis of Fond du Lac were all sentenced to a year on probation after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct charges. Ziemann was also convicted of battery in the incident. Judge Donald Poppy heard the women's pleas and meted out punishments in separate hearings. The defendants also have to serve out community service.

Prosecutors say Ziemann lured Donessa Davis, 37, Hood-Davis' husband, to a Stockbridge motel on July 30. After tying him to the bed under the pretense of sex, Ziemann called the other women to the room. The women berated him before Ziemann struck him and glued his penis to his body.

Belliveau was the lone defendant of the four who didn't have a sexual relationship with Davis.

The case garnered attention from media outlets around the world. Belliveau's attorney, Ralph Sczygelski, criticized the coverage, saying it was driven by "sex, sex, sex in the media." The defendants and their lawyers said the events in the motel room went beyond anything they had planned.

Ziemann said she was angry because her minor daughter's number was in Davis' cell phone and that the penis gluing was a spur of the momnet action. "I just wish that this never happened. It's taken a toll on everybody involved," she said to Judge Poppy. Sewell's attorney, Nila Robinson, stated that her client "wanted him to see her face and see how much pain he caused her,"
 
In closing, Judge Poppy berated Hood-Davis, stating the women whose husbands cheat on them tend to handle their business in divorce court, not by messing with members. "They don't set things in motion so people get all messed up with glue."

Woman sentenced to life without parole for burning death of husband

A Wells, ME woman who killed her husband by burning his while he was asleep was sentenced to life without parole on Thursday, October 29. Kimberly Spampinato, 42, killed her husband Chris, 39 because he wanted a divorce, and was cheating on her with a Texas woman, according to prosecutors. Kim plead guilty to 1st degree murder in August, and was sentenced to 30 years concurrently for 1st degree arson.

York County Justice Paul Fritzsche imposed the maximum sentence for both counts because “In this case, the person was murdered in a way that was particularly cruel … and unusually horrible...There is only one sentence that can be imposed.” Kim had written letters to her victim's family members claiming that she had killed seven other people. An excerpt said that “Killing your brother was fun; it still puts a smile on my face; I only wish I could’ve made the pain last longer.”

Her lack of an apology or remorse during the sentencing hearing was also an aggravating factor.

On Jan. 8, while Christopher slept, Kimberly Spampinato doused him and rolled up newspapers in gasoline, setting the paper and her husband on fire in his Wells apartment, said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese, a state prosecutor in the case.

Christopher ran out of the apartment and was found by police badly burned and sitting in a snow bank that night, she said. He died nine days later on Jan. 17 in the burn unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, according to court records.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese asked for a sentence of 55 years to life for Spampinato. She said Thursday in court that extreme cruelty was evident in the case because Christopher was alive for a period of time and conscious while he waited for an ambulance to arrive and during the ambulance ride. “He must have known he was going to die,” she said.

Premeditation was also evident, said Marchese, as Spampinato purchased gas in the afternoon of the murder, had to roll out the newspaper, drench the bed with gas and light it afire.

Marchese described the murder as “domestic violence at its worst,” as Christopher had decided to leave the relationship and Kimberly felt she was losing control. “People should be able to leave a relationship safely,” she said. “She presents a real danger to society.”

The victim's mother, Ann Cabot, said about her former daughter-in-law, “This sick, violent individual should not be allowed the privilege of taking another breath.”

Chris' sister, Jennifer Cabot stated that "Sometimes I can wake up and smell the burn unit where I watched him die slowly." She wanted to remember her brother for the "amazing person that he was...True justice would be the end of Kim’s life in the same manner she ended Chris’ life,” she concluded.
 
Donald Stevens, who was married to Kimberly Spampinato for 18 years, spoke at length during the hearing, delineating years of abuse that he and his son experienced from her. “There were nights when I would be awoken with the touch of a knife blade to my throat,” he said. “In my case, I was lucky enough to be awake to defend myself.”

 Stevens said that Spampinato “loves to control and manipulate any way she can” and said he would fear for his family if she were ever to be let out of prison.“We want to go on with our lives and not go on looking over our shoulder,” said Stevens. “If she is ever paroled, there is no doubt she will kill again.”

 The couple’s son, Donald Stevens III, told the court how his mother attacked him with a knife when he was a teenager and said he was asking for a life sentence “because she’s a very dangerous threat.”

Sarah Churchill said that the murder was premeditated, stating that a person can be tortured to death for long periods of time.She cited her client's history of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse during childhood, leading to mental illness. The letters about the murder were “more a result of her mental illness than anything else.”

Kim herself stated that “I would not be angry to get a life sentence at all. It would be a relief. I took responsibility for this and gave a full confession. I’ve been waiting 10 months for this day, to be sentenced and move on.”

Wife shoots husband to death after argument

By CINDY GEORGE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 5, 2009, 11:31AM

Criminal charges are pending against a Houston woman police say admitted to fatally shooting her husband.

According to Houston police, Cesar Barrera and his wife got into an argument around 9:25 p.m. Friday at the couple's home in the 10700 block of Lumber Ridge Trail.

“At some point, the wife goes into a closet and retrieves the husband's handgun and shoots him while he's in bed,” Houston Police Department spokesman Victor Senties said.

The woman remained at the southeast Houston home until police arrived.
“She pretty much admits to her involvement in this deal,” Senties said.
The wife's name has not been released because she has not been formally charged, Senties said.

Barrera, 28, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Woman gets 33 years in prison for having kids kill husband

Lake Superior Court (Ind.) Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced a mother who enlisted her two children to kill her husband to 33 years in prison Thursday, August 20. Parker, formerly of Crown Point, IN, and currently of Clawson, MI, had tried to kill her husband many times, including by putting ecstacy in his food.

The plot to murder John M. Parker, a Kirby vacuum salesman, finally came together after she had her 17 year old daughter, Christina Hicks Grabski, buy a pistol for her then 15 year old son, Daniel Hicks, with the son shooting the father to death execution style outside of his Merillville, IN office April 17, 2003.

The victim's father, also named John, stated that he had "to forgive her for what she did. It's the Christian thing to do." He remembered his son as a positive human being who provided for his family. However, his granddaughter Tiffany, 11 at the time of the killing, said that once when the family lived in southwest Michigan, her father came to the dinner table and beat her over a book report. "It wasn't what everybody saw -- the perfect family," she said.

Defense attorneys Richard Kammen and Nick Thiros also presented testimony by Douglas Caruana, a licensed clinical psychologist, who said Parker fit the battered woman profile. In two interviews at the jail, Caruana said Parker told him of being sexually and physically abused as a girl. She married her abusive first husband at age 15. While the couple was divorcing in 1991, she met Parker but had extramarital affairs during their 10-year marriage.By all accounts, John Parker was a successful businessman and at one time ran the fifth best Kirby distributorship in the world, deputy prosecutor John Burke said.

Judy Parker's journey from her impoverished childhood in Texas to a life of jewelry, new cars, luxury vacations and nice homes apparently didn't buy happiness. Her daughter Tiffany testified that a month or two before her father was killed, her mother told her she was saving money so she could divorce John Parker.

In reality, Judy Parker was scheming with her two oldest children, Christina Hicks Grabski and Daniel Hicks, on how to carry out her husband's execution. They later would agree to testify against their mother in exchange for more lenient sentences.

Grabski, then 17, called the couple and had them stop by the office after dinner at the Patio restaurant under the guise of picking up something she needed for homework on that Thursday before Easter 2003. Fifteen-year-old Hicks, wearing dark clothing his mother furnished, was waiting when they pulled up in their Cadillac.

Hicks, 21, of Phoenix, AZ, faces a sentence of between 20 and 25 years when he is sentenced September 14. Grabski, 23, of Gary, faces an eight year sentence for assisting a criminal three days later on September 17. But the harshest sentence will go to Parker, who faces 28 to 35 years in prison for using her kids "in such a way you have jeopardized their liberty, their happiness, their livelihood."

Glen St. Mary, FL woman sentenced to life without parole in husband killing

A Baker County, FL woman was sentenced to life without parole for the 1st degree murder of her husband. Circuit Judge James Nilon sentenced Melony Lee Jackson, 40, to the mandatory LWOP sentence for shooting and killing her husband, 47 year old Kevin, outside their Glen St. Mary home in March 2008.

Jackson's lawyer plans to appeal, and the reason for the appeal is the relationship a female juror had with the defendant's oldest son, James Wallace, after the verdict, reached in May. Prosecutors notified Assistant Public Defender George Nelson about the relationship, and Nelson requested a new trial. Nelson said that the juror was tainted by Wallace telling her (and others) that his mother was evil.

“It would only be fair to Ms. Jackson to have a jury that hasn’t heard from her own son telling people she’s an evil bitch,” Nelson said.

But Assistant State Attorney Geoff Fleck of Gainesville argued there was no evidence Wallace made those statements to the juror. And he noted that Jackson never disclosed the relationship during the trial either. “She probably thought that she had a ringer, a friend of her son who would help her out,” Fleck said.

Testimony on Monday indicated that Wallace and [Amanda]Daniels knew each other in high school in 2003 then rekindled their relationship in 2008, with Daniels spending several nights with Wallace at his grandmother’s home.

Despite that, both testified they never discussed the case, and Daniels told the judge she never connected Jackson to Wallace because of their different last names.

Nilon made specific findings that Daniel's "boyfriend" was not known by her to be Jackson's son, and in any case, the fact did not matreially change her verdict.

At the sentencing hearing, 17 year old Dustin Jackson told Judge Nilon that he missed his stepfather, the only father he really knew, in contrast to his mother, who changed from "fun-loving" to "spiteful." "I love her for what she was, but I hate her for what she became and what she’s done.”

His mother wept quietly as her son and her husband’s family spoke to Nilon, but she didn’t look up or make eye contact as they passed the defense table.

Nilon said the case compounded tragedy upon tragedy, but the one that touched him most was the plight of Jackson’s two teenage children, left with one parent dead and the other forever incarcerated.

“My heart goes out to them immensely as well as other members of the family,” Nilon said.

Wife charged with reckless homicide after husband dies during bondage session - convicted of negligent homicide, sentenced to 18 months

(Original Post 4-21-08)

A woman is being charged with reckless homicide, punishable by up to 12 years in prison, after a BDSM session gone wrong. James Bargy, 29, was found with his hands and feet tied behind his back, a ball in his mouth , which was tied with duct tape, after sexual games with his wife Rebecca, 25. Police say he was like that for almost 20 hours, according to his wife's confession.

Authorities believe she tied up her husband, James Bargy, 29, for sexual pleasure and then left him inside their trailer on Jacobs Lane for about 20 hours, according to a warrant.Sheriff’s deputies found the body about 4 p.m. Saturday. Rebecca Bargy allegedly inserted a ball in her husband’s mouth, duct taped it shut, wrapped a bandage around his head, tied his arms and legs behind his back and then left him in the trailer, according to the warrant.

“When we found him, his head was completely wrapped in an ace bandage with only his nostrils showing,” he said. “Apparently, this was not the first time it had happened.”

While detectives have not called it intentional, James Bargy's family believes that troubles in their marriage led to Becky's killing of her husband.

They say the couple's marriage was on the rocks, and that James had plans to return to his home state of New York.

His sister believes what happened to his brother on Saturday was no accident.

"What kind of person does that, leaves someone for so long without checking on them? Who could do that?" said Lisa Brady, the victim's sister.

Becky's mother said that it was simply a case of bondage gone wrong.

I hope they let her go. She doesn't deserve this, I mean he doesn't either, but something went wrong and god knows its not her fault," said Mona Phillips, Rebecca Bargy's mother.

Rebecca's mother, says the couple often engaged in bondage related sexual activities at James' request.

"They do this all the time and something went wrong. I don't know what went wrong," Phillips explained.

Rebecca Bargy is still in Maury County Jail as of Sunday.

(Update 7-18-09) Last Monday, July 13, Rebecca Bargy was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison for negligent homicide. On May 20, after 3 1/2 hours of deliberation, jurors acquitted Bargy of much more serious 2nd degree murder charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison in Tennessee. During the trial, jurors and the victim's family members heard evidence that Bargy had left her husband bound and gagged for 20 hours because she had left to see a "boyfriend," Matthew Gilmore, a man she met while playing World Of Warcraft (WoW).

During the trial, Becky testified that bondage was a part of her 7 year marriage to the victim, and that on April 18, the day before James' death, she had tied her husband up, had sex with her "boyfriend," and the husband got out of his bounds.

Before [Maury County Circuit Court Judge Stella] Hargrove made her ruling, Mona Phillips, Rebecca Bargy’s mother, testified that putting her daughter in jail would do no good and that Rebecca Bargy is upset over her husband’s death. Assistant District Attorney Larry Nickell took exception to the mother’s statements. He pointed out that Rebecca Bargy lived with Gilmore for about a month after James Bargy was found dead.

“This is the last person in the world you think she’d move in with,” he said.During closing arguments, Defense Attorney Samuel Patterson maintained James Bargy’s death was an accident.“This type of case falls under unusual circumstances,” he said. “If she could turn back time, she would.”

In an interview after the verdict, Lisa Bargy, the victim's sister, said this:

She left my brother to die while she was in a hotel room with another man. My brother fighting for every last breath while she was breathing heavy in a hotel...I don't think she meant to kill him, but she definitely should have had to pay for what she did.

Judge Hargrove echoed that sentiment when she said to the perp, “In this court’s mind, the jury did not consider this an accident. It’s almost like Miss Bargy is presenting herself as a victim. I have problems with that. I don’t see her as helpless. Someone has to be held accountable. “ feel there needs to be a consequence when there’s a death that could have been avoided.”

Bargy must serve her time at the Maury County Jail.