Man who threatened to kill "girlfriend" in front of child then does it gets 30 to life

A Bella Vista, CA man who threatened to kill his "girlfriend" in front of her 7 year old child, then proceeded to do just that was sentenced to a prison term of 30 years to life on April 22, 2011. 49 year old Ty Rone Pitts was sentenced in Shasta County Superior Court by Judge Bradley Boeckman on April 22 for the 1st degree murder of 24 year old Randal Leigh Wert. Wert was stabbed five times in front of her 7 year old daughter Kaylee, with three of those stabbings going through Wert's body. This was not the first felony conviction Pitts had for attacking Wert - a 2008 conviction was for choking and holding a knife to Wert's throat.

According to court documents, Pitts told a sheriff's detective that he and Wert, who worked as a shift manager at a fast-food restaurant in Redding, had been arguing the night of the stabbing and that "she continued to 'needle' and 'nag' " at him.

He then pulled an 18-inch "coconut knife" from the top of the refrigerator, and he nicked her arm with it, the court documents show. Wert then told Pitts she was "going to call the cops and he was going to prison."At that point, the report said, Pitts began to stab Wert in the upper torso.

Jankowitz said during the trial's closing arguments that Pitts inflicted the final stab wound after the bleeding and terrified Wert tried to run away from him but tripped and fell down in the driveway at their residence.

Pitts then rolled Wert onto her back and, holding the knife with both hands, raised it high over his head and plunged it into her heart, Jankowitz has said.

Karen Hallenbeck of Shasta Lake, CA said her daughter's murder has caused continuing nightmares."I miss her so much...I talk to her every night before bed...I will never forgive him." Hallenbeck read a letter from her granddaughter Kaylee who asked Pitts why he killed her mother. "I wish you were here so we could play," Kaylee said in her letter.

Hallenbeck also opined that Pitts should get life without parole since "he always said he was going to kill her in front of the children." Judge Boekman said "You predicted this and you made it happen."

Green card marriage leads to murder of wife, life without parole for husband

A Jamaican national who married a Florida woman to gain residency easier was sentenced to life without parole Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Orane Ferguson, 31 and a resident of Land O Lakes, FL, was convicted by a Pasco County jury of 1st degree murder for stabbing his wife, Lenora Michelle Ferguson, 50 times in the bathroom of their home. Ferguson was also convicted of aggravated battery for stabbing the murder victim's minor son, Gabriel Neal. Since prosecutors did not seek the death penalty,  Circuit Judge Michael Andrews could only sentence the defendant to life without parole.

The Kingston, Jamaica native testified that he was in Florida for a four month visa to attend his brother's funeral when he met the victim, who went by her middle name. The woman suggested that she would help Ferguson obtain permanent residency in the United States by marrying him, while he supported her and her son. According to defense attorney Assistant Public Defender Willie Pura, Ferguson was met with increasing demands by his wife, including sex and impregnation, and threatened to withdraw her immigration help if he did not comply. Things boiled over on July 20, 2008.

The Fergusons argued that Sunday morning before heading to church in Lakeland. A second argument broke out after they returned home that afternoon. This time it turned violent. Orane Ferguson grabbed knives and so did Neal, who heard his mother screaming and ran downstairs to help her.

Eventually, Michelle Ferguson ran into a bathroom. Her husband forced his way in and began stabbing her. Neal ran to the door with a knife and began trying to attack his stepfather. Orane Ferguson stabbed him in the mouth, chest and thumb. The boy collapsed but managed to run outside and get help. Orane Ferguson testified that he doesn't remember stabbing his wife.

In closing arguments, Pura said that the events of 2008 should be considered manslaughter, since"There is simply no evidence of premeditation." Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis "How long does it take to get some knives, chase her into the bathroom, knock down this door and stab her 50 times? Is that enough time for reflection? I submit that's more than enough time for reflection."

The victim's sister Lakeisha Robinson, said that she remembers Michelle as a loving and caring mother. "The only thing she did wrong was marry the wrong man."

"Monster" sentenced to 18 years, 8 months for attemped stabbing murder of wife

A man who stabbed his wife 63 times in front of their two children was sentenced to 18 2/3 years of imprisonment yesterday, February 28, 2011. 29 year old Brian Rolstad plead guilty to single counts of attempted murder causing great bodily injury, felony spousal abuse and two counts of felony child endangerment. The attack on his wife, Rachel, happened last spring at their Chula Vista, CA home. At sentencing yesterday, Rachel described as she drifted in and out of consciousness and saw fear on her sons' faces as their father attacked their mother.

The assault at the home in the 1300 block of Granite Springs Drive was reported shortly before 8 p.m. last June 14, according to Chula Vista police. A motive was not disclosed.

Officers arrived to find the assailant gone and the victim suffering from multiple stab wounds, most of them to her upper body. Rolstad was found about 7 the next morning, sitting in his car near Chula Vista Police Department headquarters.

"The torture was excruciating, horrifying and ruthless. I could feel each stab as it entered into and out of my body. He stabbed me over and over and all I could do is curl up in a fetal position to protect my heart while begging and hoping he would stop...You only care about yourself. Look how you washed yourself, changed your clothes and made sure you were nice and clean but left our kids crying, with blood smeared on their poor little faces, traumatized… while you left to go hide...When I see you, I see a monster."

To Superior Court Judge Esteban Hernandez, Rachel said that  "Brian Rolstad is a cold-hearted, senseless human being… I see an angry man with no remorse… a vicious criminal who I believe will take revenge after his release. If he tried to kill me once, who's to say he won't try it again...He's not crazy but I'm afraid he will come back to get me when he’s released."

The perpetrator was ordered to get mental health treatment while incarcerated, something that may take place at one of California's state hospitals.

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.

Jealous northern England man sentenced to life without parole for at least 30 years for murder of nurse

By Peter Magill [Burnley chief reporter]

FORMER ambulance technician who murdered his ex-girlfriend while on bail for her rape was jailed for a minimum of 30 years today. Ambulance technician and bouncer Jonathan Vass, 30, launched a frenzied knife attack on nurse and mother-of-one Jane Clough, 26, as she arrived for work at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in July. She was admitted to the hospital’s accident and emergency unit where she worked as colleagues tried in vain to save her.

Vass, described as “manipulative and controlling”, was freed to kill after being given bail while awaiting trial over allegations that he had repeatedly raped her. The rape charges were dropped after the murder. John and Penny Clough, her parents, were angered by both decisions - first to free him and then to let the rape charges lie on file. They sat in the public gallery just yards from Vass in the dock as he was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to murder at an earlier hearing.

Judge Anthony Russell QC handed down the mandatory life sentence before telling Vass he will serve a minimum of 30 years before he can be considered for release. Vass wept uncontrollably, covering his face his hands as he was told he would only be eligible for parole in 2040.

The victim’s parents and family wept and hugged each other as the court heard for the first time that, after stabbing and slashing Miss Clough with a 3in (7.6cm) blade, he walked away momentarily, then went back seconds later to finish her off.

”As she lay bleeding you walked away but then returned and slowly, deliberately and cold-bloodedly slit her throat,” Judge Russell said as he passed sentence. ”It is difficult to imagine a more horrific crime than this murder. Furthermore it was a crime motivated by real hatred and revenge. This was a deliberate, brutal and callous murder for which you have shown no remorse and no care for your own daughter. Jane Clough was a nurse who devoted her life to the care of others. She had the misfortune to become involved with you. She bore your child and then you murdered her, leaving your infant child without a mother and with the prospect of growing up to learn one day that her father murdered her mother.”

The court heard that Miss Clough kept a diary, detailing her abuse and fears of Vass and what he might do.

She and her family, who held a protest outside court before the case began this morning, were “rocked and devastated” when he was bailed on the rape charges, leaving Miss Clough “extremely concerned for her safety”.  She left home to live with her parents and recorded in her diary that she was worried “Johnny was going to do something stupid”.

He had been relying on her to drop the charges.

Another entry read of fears he would “get his revenge”, adding: “What’s he going to do?”

Dennis Watson QC, prosecuting, said it was clear the motive for the murder was to prevent Miss Clough giving evidence. Mr Watson said the couple met while both working at the hospital but their relationship was troubled because of Vass.

”He was a jealous man who wished to dominate and have complete control over Jane despite the fact that, unknown to her, he was carrying on a relationship with two other women at the same time,” Mr Watson told the court. By early 2009 Miss Clough was pregnant but Vass had become controlling and “sexually demanding”.

In November that year she plucked up courage to report him to police, telling officers of the months of physical and sexual abuse and the repeated rapes even when she was seven months pregnant.

Text messages between the pair were read out.

Miss Clough sent him a message saying: “You have hurt, raped and reduced me to tears on countless occasions... and you want to get engaged and have more kids? Why?” He replied: “We are staying together regardless of our problems.” A second text read: “Why should you come back? To push me about, grab me, rip my clothes off, make me cry...” Another said: “You physically and sexually abuse me. You threatened to kill me the other night.”

Vass’s replies read: “Please can I come home... best behaviour promise”, and “I do love you Janey. Either get pregnant or engaged. Your choice.”

Vass was charged with nine rapes and assault in November 2009 and told a work colleague, an ex-boyfriend of Miss Clough, if he was found guilty he would kill her - but the threat was dismissed as “bravado”. When it became clear she was prepared to give evidence in court Vass decided to take “retribution”, the court heard.

Man who dropped into house, stabbed estranged wife to death sentenced to life without parole

On Friday, September 17, a Ft. Worth, TX man who stabbed his estranged wife to death in front of his 8 year old twin boys, named after him, was sentenced to life without parole by State District Judge Mike Thomas. 41-year-old Alma Garcia was stabbed to death by her husband, 42 year old Abel Noe Dominguez, on March 8, 2009. Dominguez broke into his wife's house and stabbed her between 11 PM and 10 AM, according to the testimony of his two oldest children, earning him a capital murder charge, which is applied to murder committed in the course of another felony, in this case, burglary.

[Noely] Dominguez, 17, said she spent most of the day [March 7, 2009] at South Hills High School practicing track and cheerleading.

She said her brothers, Abel and Noe, were at a neighbor’s house while their mother and Janette [Jaimes, 20 year old]were at a birthday party. After returning home about 10 p.m., Dominguez said she picked up her brothers and went back to their house, where the boys watched television in their mother’s room. Dominguez said she watched TV in her own room.

About 11 p.m., when she looked out the window after her dog began barking, Dominguez said she saw a ladder leaned up against the house. Several hours after she went to sleep, she heard her mother and Janette come home but she went back to sleep, she said.

Prosecutors contend that Dominguez broke into the home and waited for Garcia. Defense attorneys say that Dominguez walked through the front door of a house that he shared with Garcia.

Nohely Dominguez said she and Janette were awakened about 11 a.m. by her brothers screaming, “Wake up, I think Mommy’s dead.” When she hesitantly went into her mother’s room, where the boys had been sleeping, Dominguez found “blood everywhere” and her mother['s] body. “We tried shaking her but she was dead,” she said.

During closing arguments,  prosecutors Alana Minton and Kimberly D'Avignon argued that the break-in was burglary because the victim's sister owned the home and the victim kicked her husband out during a violent argument two weeks before her murder. While defense attorneys Wes Ball and Santiago Salinas argued it was Dominguez' home because he made mortgage payments for 15 years, Minton said that the way he entered - climbing onto the roof, dropping through a hole in his sons' room, then lying in wait to stab him victim 19 times, made it murder committed during a burglary.

The burglary specification was significant because in Texas, jurors can convict defendants of capital murder, which carried life without parole or the death penalty, if the homicide is committed during the course of another felony. In Texas, burglary is defined as breaking into someone's home without permission to commit another felony. If not, the homicide becomes simple murder, punishable by 5 to 99 years with one-third to serve. Tarrant County jurors found Dominguez guilty of capital murder after three hours of deliberation over two days.

During the victim impact statement, made after sentencing, Patricia Rodriguez, the homeowner and sister of the victim, said that the children They not only lost their mother. They lost their father. They still have nightmares and cry themselves to sleep because what you’ve done.”

"Shotgun Bandit" sentenced to life for rape, attempted murder of woman

A suburban Dallas-Ft Worth man was sentenced to life for the rapes of two women Thursday, September 16. Stanley Vernell Ledbetter Jr., a Muscogee, OK native and a Plano, TX resident, was sentenced to life for aggravated sexual assault in a April 10, 2007 sexual attack. Jurors took half an hour to convict Ledbetter of aggravated sexual assault and another 20 minutes to assess him the maximum sentence - life with a $10,000 fine.

Testimony opened on September 15 with the then 29 year old's account of the attack.

The woman, who is not being named because she is a sexual assault victim, told jurors she was in her pajamas watching television about 2 a.m. when the glass on her patio door exploded.  "I screamed," she said. "I saw a dark figure coming through the door right at me."


The man, holding a short-barreled shotgun, dragged her by her hair to the bedroom. She testified he made her dump out her purse and turn over hundreds of dollars in cash she had earned from her waitress job. He also forced her to give up her debit card and the personal identification number.
He made her stay in the bathtub as he searched the place. What he was looking for, she didn't know, she told jurors. Then the attacker took her to her bedroom, where he forced her to perform a sex act. If she didn't, he threatened to blow her head off, she testified.
The attacker used zip ties to bind her hands behind her and laid her on the bed. He stuffed a sock into her mouth and held it there with duct tape. Then he covered her face with a pillow and stabbed her three times.
"I couldn't believe this was happening," she said. "The pain was unreal."

The woman said she played dead as he checked her wrist for a pulse. She rolled her eyes back as he lifted each lid to check for signs of life. He removed the sock and duct tape. She said she heard her front door open and then close. She waited about five minutes and then went to her kitchen to try to cut the ties with a knife. When she couldn't free herself, she went to get help.

She met her attacker at the front door. "You didn't think I wouldn't see the kitchen light come on?" she recalled him asking. There was a struggle. She told jurors he pushed her down and stabbed her two more times. He locked the door behind him as he left.

The woman said she lay there for 30 to 45 minutes "to make sure he was gone."

During the trial, Ledbetter's defense attorney attempted to introduce reasonable doubt by sugessting that his client wasn't the one who stabbed the victim. The defense conceded the DNA evidence proved Ledbetter raped the victim. The only defense witness, Denise Ledbetter, was the attacker's mom. She portrayed her son as a devoted son and asked jurors to give him less than life so "That I have more time with my son."

The 2007 attack victim's impact statement followed the penalty phase of the trial, and went like this. "No matter how much pain and anguish you caused, not once would I let you get the best of me. I will never let you steal my strength or my perseverance. ... I'm the reason you were caught. I got you. ... May you rot in jail for life."

During the punishment phase of the trial, jurors got a clearer picture of Ledbetter, known before his arrest as the shotgun bandit because of his choice of weapon in some of the crimes.


A former Garland woman testified about a man breaking into her home through the patio door on June 1, 2005. He forced her to drive to two automated teller machines and withdraw $500 while he sat in the back seat of her Jaguar with a sawed-off shotgun jabbed in her side. "I was petrified," she told jurors.

A former Southern Methodist University student testified under a pseudonym about a man dressed in black and wielding a shotgun who broke into the Dallas apartment she shared with a friend on June 4, 2005. Both were sexually assaulted. A DNA expert testified that trace evidence from the Jaguar's back seat and the Dallas attack matched Ledbetter's DNA.
A 41-year-old woman testified about being sexually assaulted by Ledbetter on Nov. 7, 2005, at her Plano apartment. Several details matched the other attacks.

Prosecutor JoDee Neil told jurors: "There is no why," she said. "This is evil, plain and straight."

First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis said Ledbetter deserved the maximum of life without parole
"so that no other woman will have to look at Stanley Ledbetter again and fear for her life."
 
Ledbetter, known as the "Shotgun Bandit," was already serving two life sentences on similar criminal convictions. Ledbetter is suspected in attacks on 7 women that took place between May 2005 and April 2007, and is suspected in at least 19 home invasions. The presiding judge was State District Judge Webb Biard. The convictions, from Dallas County, are under appeal.

British man receives 15 to life for stabbing "girlfriend" during sex

By Jaya Narain [Daily Mail] Last updated at 8:00 AM [BST] on 8th September 2010

A man stabbed his girlfriend to death after she accidentally blurted out the name of another man as they made love. Gary Higgs, 44, flew into a rage when his girlfriend suddenly cried out: 'Chris!'. He stormed downstairs, grabbed a chef's knife and stabbed Joanne Kitchen once in the back and once in the chest.

As she was dying from her wounds, he throttled the 41-year-old to death with the electrical flex of their alarm clock. He later told police: 'I asked her why she said "Chris", but she said she must have been thinking about her daughter's boyfriend Chris.' Manchester Crown Court heard Chris had been at the house the day before.

But Higgs told officers: 'It didn't make any sense to me and I was getting more angry. Why was she thinking about her daughter's boyfriend when we were having sex?

'I couldn't get things out of my mind. I didn't know exactly what I was thinking. I picked the knife up and carried it upstairs to the bedroom. I don't remember thinking I wanted to harm Jo at this time.I was just so mad.' Higgs also said that after he stabbed her, Miss Kitchen told him: 'You've killed me.'

Higgs, who admitted murder, was yesterday jailed for life and told he must serve a minimum of 15 years.
The court heard the couple ditched their long-term partners and moved in together after talking on Facebook.

Paul Reid, QC, prosecuting, said they struggled financially and depended on Miss Kitchen's wage as a security officer at a college in Bury. Early one morning in April this year a woman waiting at a bus stop heard 'argumentative screams' from a woman coming from the couple's home and another witness saw Higgs standing bare - chested at the window.

The alarm was raised when Miss Kitchen failed to turn up for work and her daughters could not contact their mother by phone or text. The landlord of the house in Radcliffe, near Bury, let the two women in and he found her body in the upstairs room.

Sentencing Higgs, Judge Andrew Gilbart, QC, said the relationship had been overcome by financial tensions and arguments. He said: "Those tensions can lead to mistrust and sexual jealousy. It seems you were overcome by your view that she could still be interested sexually in others and be as readily welcoming to conduct an affair with others as she had been with you. There is no evidence of that whatsoever, but even if there were, it cannot justify what you did. In my judgment, this is a case of an unreasonably possessive man killing his lover in a rage."

Rape-slaying of retired St. Louis journalist nets sex offender life without parole

A man with a history of sex crimes got life without parole Tuesday, June 1 for the rape-slaying of a retired St. Louis journalist. Nancy Miller, 59, was slain February 1, 2008 by a repeat sex offender. Brian Walters, who turned 30 the day of the sentencing, broke into Miller's Chesterfield, MO condo and attacked her when she encountered him. After raping Miller, Walters stabbed Miller with a knife until it broke, then got another knife he used to slit her throat. She didn't die immediately, even after Miller left and poured bleach over her body, which an autopsy showed suffered 50 stab wounds.

He was arrested in 1999 in Charlotte, N.C., accused of beating and raping a teenage girl there, according to police and court records. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of assault and false imprisonment. A judge sentenced Walters to 120 days in jail and released him on time served. Later that year, a police officer found Walters outside Parkway North High School before dawn. Walters drove at the officer, who got out of the way.

Months later, Walters was charged with several burglaries in Maryland Heights. During one, he had cut the screen of the apartment of three female college students and stolen a pair of underwear from each of their dressers. For the encounter at Parkway and the burglaries, Walters was imprisoned for 2½ years.

In May 2003, he was caught in the garage of a home in Chesterfield. Police said he had been casing homes and keeping a journal of the comings and goings of women. He was sentenced to seven years for the burglary and paroled after serving about 4½ years.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch originally sought the death penalty for Walters, but the perpetrator's mother's cooperation with the investigation led McCulloch to offer Walters a plea deal. That deal, which Walters took, featured a sentenced of two life without parole terms plus 45 years. "Today marks the end of a tragic situation. From the very beginning of this case, my primary concern was justice for Nancy Miller and the members of her family. This … was an appropriate sentence, all things considered."
 
During the sentencing hearing, presided over by Circuit Judge Richard C. Bresnahan, Walters never made a statement, but the victim's brother, Ben Nix did.  "Nancy was the glue that made us even closer. She was the most loving, giving, caring human being on this Earth." Nix went on to tell how friends put together a memorial book, featuring her old St. Louis Post Dispatch columns.

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."

Silver Spring man who stabbed wife to death in front of child sentenced to life without parole

A Montgomery County, MD man was sentenced to life without parole for stabbing his wife to death while their child was home. Lamour A. Harrison, 37, was stabbed to death by her own husband, 49 year old Claude Harrison, in their Silver Spring apartment.  He went from room to room, stabbing her with a 12-inch knife four times after he broke into the bedroom in which she barricaded herself with - their 18 year old daughter Shanoy's.

After arguing in the kitchen with his wife, Claude Harrison followed her to a bedroom, where she slammed the door between them, according to police. He then forced his way into the bedroom, according to the documents. Detectives think Lamour Harrison "attempted to barricade herself" inside their daughter's bedroom while Claude Harrison had the knife in his back pocket, according to Feeney. After forcing his way into the room, he stabbed her four times, [a law enforcement officer] said.

After the stabbing, he follows the victim into the kitchen, along with their daughter, and prosecutor Peter Feeney describes the last moments of the 37 year old mother's life during closing arguments.

"This is a horribly intimate picture. This is horrific. Dad and mom, Shanoy watching. He takes the knife, and if there's any question at all in your mind about premeditation, after the kitchen incident there ought not to be. He's talking to her. He's talking to his wife. ... And she says to him, 'Please, please.' His response – I mean she's begging, she's begging, begging – his response: 'Please what?'" Shanoy falls over her mother as she lay dying from the stab wounds which literally pierced her heart.

Brian D. Shefferman, Harrison's defense attorney argued that his client did not mean to kill his wife, saying that "Raw emotion got the better of Claude Harrison on August 10th. He snapped. He did an awful, awful thing...This clearly was not Claude Harrison’s normal way of dealing with stress and problems, and marital strife...What he did was completely wrong ... We know that," Shefferman said. "But this was not a premeditated and deliberate act. It was the result of raw emotion and frustration. Once he got control of that knife, he clearly lost control."

To establish premeditation, though, prosecutors don't have to show the defendant engaged in weeks or even minutes of planning. They can argue that the amount of time someone takes to weigh whether to kill or not need only be a matter of seconds. And in cases like Harrison's, when someone is accused of stabbing or shooting repeatedly, prosecutors will argue that the second, third or fourth attacks are themselves a matter of premeditation because the defendant had a chance to stop but didn't.

Feeney said that previous talk of hurting his wife and the choice of a 12 inch knife when smaller knives were available underscored Harrison's intent to kill. "He's looking for a knife that’s going to get the job done. There’s a butter knife. I don't want that. There's a regular steak-knife. I don't want that. There's a knife that you would use to chop an onion. That's not big enough. I want this. I want this. This is going to get the job done. He hunts her down, ladies and gentlemen," he says to the court, particularly the jury.

Jurors, persuaded by that argument, convicted Harrison of 1st degree murder February 25. Almost two months later, on April 22, Harrison was sentenced to life without parole. "This is yet another domestic-violence murder in front of a child. It's deeply troubling," said Montgomery County's chief prosecutor John McCarthy. Because Harrison was sentenced to life, the governor must sign off on any parole request, meaning he should die behind bars.

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.

"Man" sentenced to 80 to life for murdering wife in front of 4 year old son

A 30 year old Omaha, NE "man" who beat, choked, and stabbed his wife to death in front of their 4 year old son was sentenced to 80 years to life by Douglas County District Judge J. Michael Coffey yesterday afternoon. Sonia Espinoza-Lucero, 34, was brutalkly murdered by her husband Johnny Rix, described as controlling and violent. Deputy Douglas County Attorney Kim Pankonin said that the murder scene was the worst she saw in 16 years as a prosecutor, but the DV leading up to it was all too typical. Rix plead no contect to murder and child endangerment.

A sweet woman, Sonia Espinoza-Lucero kept the couple's volatile relationship secret from her coworkers, friends, even family. She worked hard and raised the couple’s three sons — including 1-year-old twins, Pankonin said. And she dealt with the neverending specter of her husband’s temper.

Pankonin said Rix was "insanely jealous" and controlling. He drove his wife to work, constantly called to check on her and hounded her at home. It was the same behavior Rix was accused of in the late 1990s.

In that case, a Grand Island, NE woman's family helped their daughter escape the relationship while Rix was at work. "This was not unusual conduct for the defendant. And it resulted in the senseless loss of a mom, sister and friend. It was a gruesome, horrible death she did not deserve," Pankonin told the court.

The 4 year old witnessed the beating and murder, and was also traumatized because his father tried to jump of of a fast food restraraunt with him before police intervened.

"By the child’s interview he saw a good portion of it,” said Pankonin. “He was able to act it out to a therapist and act it out with a doll so he saw a good portion of it which is very, very sad.” 

He made a big mistake, he left three little kids without mom and dad and the big kid, he got too many problems, too many psychological problems ‘cause he saw everything and right now his behavior is not really good,” said Sonia's brother, Alex Espinoza.

The sentence breakdown is 60 to life for 1st degree murder, and 20 years, served consecutively to the 60 to life term, for use of a weapon during a felony. Rix must serve 40 years, or half the minimum term, before parole, something Pankonin believes Rix will never be granted.

Though Rix apologized for the pain he cause his wife's family, Judge Coffey said that "people have described her death as ‘horrific.’If you saw what has been done here, that might be mild. It was completely senseless. Extremely violent. I only hope the children can somehow put it aside."

Judging from the aftereffects on the now 6 year old boy, it looks like that will be a long way off.

Sunday School teacher stabbed to death outside of Wal-Mart - convicted sex offender suspect

A registered sex offender with a long criminal history in Arkansas was arrested outside his Oklahoma City trailer Saturday, February 6 and charged with the 1st degree murder of a 26 year old Sunday School teacher. Family members said that the victim, Nelly Pelts, made a habit of shopping lat at night inside the Del City Wal-Mart, all the while, witnessing and telling folks about her church, located next to the murder scene.

This habit turned tragic when Platts met James Allen O'Berry, 53, around 12:20 AM Saturday. The video shows O'Berry approaching Pelts and them leaving the store parking lot at 12:35 AM. According to O'Berry, they went outside of their cars then left with her. Next thing, according to O'Berry, he "blacked out" and at around 12:50 AM Saturday,  O'Berry stabbed the woman to death and struck her with his car. He was later found inside his Oklahoma City mobile home.

James Allen O'Berry, 53, was taken into custody late Saturday evening after surveillance video from the Del City Walmart was aired on several local television stations and two separate tipsters called with O'Berry's name and address.

When detectives and officers from Midwest City and Oklahoma City Police Department arrived at O'Berry's mobile home, 2401 SE 44th, Lot No. 50 in Oklahoma City, his 1997 Lincoln Towne car was parked outside.

The car matched the description given by the witness who saw the attack and also had damage to the left front and driver's side rear view mirror. Evidence gathered at the murder scene from the suspect's car was linked to O'Berry's Lincoln. The car also had blood inside.

Investigators recovered O'Berry's clothing which had been discarded and dumped in a trash bin near I-35 and SW 44th Street.

 

Search warrants have been conducted on O'Berry's home and car in which additional evidence has been recovered. O'Berry had changed his appearance by cutting his hair and also suffered a laceration to his left arm during the attack which required medical treatment prior to him being jailed.

Del City Police Chief  Brandon Clabes' statement is below.

  We are extremely grateful to Walmart for providing photos of our suspect, to the media for airing those almost instantaneously, and to our tipsters who called in which lead to O'Berry's identification .A tremendous amount of manpower was allocated to solve this brutal homicide, and everyone worked tirelessly for justice. You have a young, innocent woman who devotes her life to her faith and because of this, becomes targeted by a sexual predator and ultimately killed. Basically within a time span of twenty minutes, James O'Berry tracked his prey and viciously killed her.

Brian Bates, the "Video Vigilante" who prevents johns from picking up prostitutes on a particular stretch of Oklahoma City highway, said that O'Berry tried to assault him, and heard from people who knew the convict after posting the video online. "All of those emails came with a warning he's a very violent man," Bates said.

Bates said he filed a complaint with the police department. But in the meantime, he tried to prevent O'Berry from soliciting prostitutes.

"My only fear is since the police didn't act on my video and didn't charge this guy with some sort of probation violation, he was then allowed to perpetrate this murder," Bates said.

District Attorney David Prate said he's been in contact with Brian Bates about the complaint he filed at the police department. Prater said he's trying to find out what happened and if O'Berry's probation could have been revoked, which may have prevented the murder of Nelly Pelts.

The Midwest City police department is currently holding O'Berry on a 1st degree murder complaint and is questioning him to see if more crimes can be traced to him.

Besides this case, O'Berry is named as a suspect in two other Oklahoma City police cases. In one, a 26 year old women complained that she started to be stalked after O'Bery met her at her southeast Oklahoma City church. A second woman alleges that as a police impersonator, O'Berry pulled her over in her car and raped her.

New Britain, CT woman files restraining order 8 days before murder, allegedly by husband

A Connecticut mother of 3's restraining order, dated January 27,  paints a grim picture of events leading up to her February 4 death, allegedly by her husband. In it, 30 year old Dia Palafox made allegations against her husband on about a year, 32 year old Juan Palafox, saying that he threatened to kill her and take her kids to Mexico.

The victim's mother found her daughter on the floor of the younger couple's New Britain home. The children, 6, 5 and 2, werein the house but unaware of what had happened. The Connecticut Medical Examiner's Office ruled Dia Palafox's death a murder by multiple stab wounds.

The restraining order filed last week paints grim a picture of the couple's last month together, which, according to court documents, was colored by physical and verbal abuse.

"My husband was drinking. He punched me in the face. Took me by the hair and hit my head twice on the bathtub. He also grabbed scissors and threatened to kill me," Dia Palafox wrote of the incidents that unfolded on Jan. 16.

The abuse also was sexual, she writes. Juan Palafox "forced himself on me for sex. I said 'no' numerous times," Dia wrote of an attack on Jan. 1. "He said I'm his wife and it's not rape."

She also went to a friend's house more than once in January, in fear of her life. During one of those trips, Juan showed up yelling at her to "get out of the car or he will hurt me," Dia wrote. "The children witnessed this."

On the last date listed in court papers, Jan. 27, Dia describes coming home from work and being met with verbal accusations that she was having an affair. A friend she was speaking with over the phone called police.

Throughout their last few weeks together, Juan harassed Dia "on a daily basis," she wrote, "stating that he will take my kids to Mexico and I will never see them again."

Juan Palafox was pulled over in North Carolina for speeding, and is on his way to being extradited back to Connecticut. This was not the first time that he had been violent towards his victims. in 2002, his pregnant 23 year old girlfriend was threatened with a knife, though the records surrounding the case are sealed.
 
The Hartford Courant has more coverage about DV, including two women's experiences with teen dating violence.

British defense secretary's niece sentenced to 15 years in French prison for murdering man she met at bar

Lizzy Davies in Versailles
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 January 2010 20.52 GMT

The niece of a British minister who admitted stabbing to death a man she had picked up in a bar and taken back to her apartment for sex was last night sentenced to 15 years in jail for his murder.

Jessica Davies, a niece of Quentin Davies and a model whom prosecutors described as possessing "the devil's beauty", remained impassive as she was told she had been found guilty of murdering Olivier Mugnier, a 24-year-old French graduate, in November 2007.

Mugnier, who had met Davies in a pub in the chic Parisian suburb of St-German-en-Laye, was found by police with a fatal wound to his chest caused by a kitchen knife which Davies, 30, had previously used to try to kill herself.

The pair had tried to have sex but stopped after Mugnier failed to perform, the Versailles criminal court heard. The young woman, whom prosecutors characterised as a psychologically disturbed seductress, claimed to have no memory of what happened next.

When she opened the door of her flat to police, having called the emergency services herself at around 2.30am, the court heard that she told them: "It's me who did that, I'm a monster. I wanted to cut him a bit and it went right in."

When making her plea for the court to jail Davies for 12 years – a sentence lighter than that subsequently handed down – prosecutor Myriam Quemener argued yesterday that the troubled woman had a habit of using men as "pure sex objects" on which to inflict her distress.

"She had ambivalent feelings of desire and hatred towards men," the court was told in a citation from a psychiatrist's report. "Olivier failed to fill the void in [her]. Instead of taking it out on herself, Olivier freed her destructiveness."

Davies, whose father, Richard, is the younger brother of Labour MP Quentin Davies, told the court that she was "horrified" by her actions – even if she could not explain them. "What I did terrifies me. I don't even dare ask Olivier's family for forgiveness," she told the jury. "I want to express the extent of my remorse. I assume the responsibility and consequences of what I did."

Minutes after the verdict was read out, Davies, who had shown no emotion for the duration of the two-day trial, was laughing and joking with police officers guarding her. As well as 15 years in prison, she was sentenced to 10 years' probation and psychological monitoring. Her family was ordered to pay €105,000 in damages to Mugnier's parents and twin brother, Benjamin. Her lawyers have 10 days to appeal the ruling.

Ever since she was placed in detention after the events of 11 November 2007, Davies had insisted she had experienced a blackout that had left her unable to explain why she had plunged a knife 12cm deep into her lover's chest. She was said to be high on drink and drugs.
The prosecution argued Davies was benefiting from a convenient selective memory. "She calculates. She erases from her memory incriminating evidence in a way that has escaped no one in this court," said Quemener.

However, her lawyers, who had recommended a sentence of 10 years in prison, rejected any idea that she was faking her amnesia as "totally erroneous". In a plea which compared her fragile mental state to the "atrocious anguish" evoked by the poet Charles Baudelaire, Daniel Soulez-Larivière said the murder should be interpreted as a manifestation of the violence the young woman had previously turned against herself in two previous suicide attempts.

"This is not a crime of a thief or a pervert, or a sexual crime, but a suicidal act," he said.

Davies had a turbulent family background in which her father was largely absent, having moved to Italy to be with his mistress, he added. "There is a certain English tendency to say 'touch nothing, say nothing'. Everything is smooth on the surface but underneath a lot is going on and … it can lead to tragedy," he said.

Psychiatrists who examined Davies concluded that she suffered from a borderline personality disorder which could have led her to suffer an "alteration of personality" at the time of the killing. Although harsher than expected, the sentence of 15 years was still less than the maximum of 30 years allowed under French law for voluntary but unpremeditated murder.

She said yesterday she would "never touch another drop" of alcohol and would continue with her medical treatment. "I can assure you that it will never happen again," she said.

Meredith Kercher killer Guede gets sentence reduced

By Ariel David in Rome, AP

An Italian court of appeal [December 22] reduced the prison sentence for the first person convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher from 30 years to 16.

But after four hours of deliberations, the eight-member jury upheld the conviction of of Rudy Hermann Guede on charges of murder and sexual violence. Guede, who is from Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 30 years last year after requesting a fast-track trial, but denies killing the British student.

The two others who were convicted earlier this month of her killing are Amanda Knox, the US student who was the victim's roommate in Perugia, and Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's boyfriend at the time. Knox and Sollecito both deny wrongdoing and are expected to appeal against their convictions. They were sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively.

Kercher, a student at Leeds University, was killed in November 2007. Guede, who was arrested in Germany shortly after the killing, has admitted he was at the scene of the crime on the night of the murder, but said that he did not kill Kercher.

Guede was in court yesterday when the verdict was delivered and told reporters afterwards: "I am not happy because I am innocent."

The Kerchers' family lawyer Francesco Maresca said he was satisfied that Guede was found guilty but was "surprised" the sentence was almost halved. He added that the ruling recognised some extenuating circumstances for Guede. The court is expected to give its reasons for the decision within 90 days.

Anchorage man sentenced to 48 years after slashing man to death after sex

A 29 year old man who slashed a man to death during a sexual encounter in Anchorage, AK was sentenced to 48 years in prison Thursday, December 10 by State Superior Court Judge Philip Volland.

Hunter killed Randall Roe, 47, after Roe picked him up on Fourth Avenue early one morning in November 2006. Roe, who had brain damage from a bicycle accident, was high on cocaine and had his own history of trouble. Something went wrong during the encounter, the men struggled, and Hunter pulled out a knife and killed Roe in the cab of Roe's pickup, according to trial testimony.

Hunter testified at both his trials that he acted in self-defense and that he was not himself because he was so intoxicated on malt beer and vodka the morning of the murder. The first jury couldn't reach a verdict. The second jury acquitted him of first-degree murder but convicted him of the lesser second-degree murder charge.

At the sentencing, the defense and prosecution argued over whether Hunter was just intoxicated that night and acting out or if he is a dangerous man with mental health problems who cannot be controlled. Prosecutor John Skidmore asked Volland to send Hunter away for 60 years, saying he was a danger to the community. Defense attorney Paul Maslakowski asked for the minimum 10 years.

One aspect of the trial which helped Judge Volland determine the character and mental state of Hunter was his two hour long statement, read to the courtroom after his conviction. Volland said that the statement told him more about the defendant than the evidence and statements from officials.
 
That allocution was telling me more about Mr. Hunter than anything else in this case...[It was] a rambling, disjointed discourse largely irrelevant to sentencing in which Mr. Hunter both simultaneously admitted to his various mental health and addiction problems and denied them...This is a man in denial of his problems. This is a man who has some significant cognitive problems. This is a man not completely in touch with his surroundings and the world.

Husband of beauty stylist, former Miss Kauai pleads guilty to stabbing murder in front of kids

(Original Post 9-6-09)
A former beauty pageant winner and local hairdresser's murderer was brought to justice when he pled guilty to stabbing her 50 times in their Brownsburg, IN house. Angela Warnock, 38, and former Miss Kauai 1990, was planning to divorce her husband, Joseph Warnock, 41 and a former tanning bed salesman, and take their two daughters, now ages 12 and 8, back to Kauai due to drug and alcohol abuse.

At a hearing June 17 where Angela received a protective order against her husband, barring him from the family home, she described him as addicted to drugs and alcohol, while Joe stated that he would never hurt his wife. However, according to police, he had already bought the knife he would use to stab Angie more than 50 times.

The night of June 21, he was at an Eagle Creek Reservoir restaurant until 11:30 p.m., police said. He drove the few miles to a church parking lot about a quarter-mile from the family home, where he parked and crossed a farm field in the dark and broke in the patio door.

Police said he found Angela and the girls asleep. Reports from the coroner and evidence experts said Angela was stabbed 28 times and cut 23 times.
The girls ran, as their mother had taught them. They hid in a closet and called 911.

Hendricks Superior Court Judge Robert Freese accepted a plea agreement which states that Warnock will receive 55 years for 1st degree murder, in the midrange of the 45 to 65 years for 1st degree murder. Formal sentencing is set for October 9. A charge of home invasion was dropped.

County Prosecutor Patricia Baldwin defended the plea agreement, stating that the children would be retraumatized if they were forced to relive their mother's murder, and that the agreement was made with the consultation of the victim's family. The sentence, according to Baldwin, "sends a message about the damage that drugs and alcohol and domestic violence can do to destroy a family."

Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council Executive Director Stephan Johnson stated that 55 years is close to the standard murder sentence and that while there are 16 aggravating factors in murder cases, domestic violence or killings in front of children are not among those factors.

"Judges can have some discretion . . . depending on the circumstances," Johnson said. "But committing a murder in front of children is not one of approximately 16 aggravating circumstances that we have now."

Defense attorney Robert Hammerle agreed, saying the actions of the 41-year-old Warnock -- a former tanning-bed salesman who had no criminal record -- stemmed from his abuse of "alcohol and drugs during the days leading up to these events."

"This is one of those instances when he (Warnock) became a person he really isn't, because of (drug abuse) and lack of sleep.

"It was a momentary collision of emotions, which later are horrifying. But that is not a defense," Hammerle said. "The hope is that by admitting what happened, everyone in this family can move to some healing, some sense of balance, in the future."

He acknowledged that under Indiana's good-behavior provisions, Warnock could be released from prison in 20 years.

Bills have been introduced in the Indiana General Assembly making DV a statutory aggravating factor in a murder case, but none has passed yet.

(Update 10-9-09) The promised sentence, 55 years in prison, was handed down to Joseph Warnock in a Hendricks County courtroom today. Joe waived any right of appeal due to his plea agreement. Even so, Angela's stepfather and mother were present to give victim impact statements.

Gordon McGrath's statement is below:

I don't believe it [the 55 year sentence] is long enough. Anybody that can think about murdering their wife in front of their children and be able to get out in anyway, it's just not right...They're [the victims' daughters, ages 9 and 12] very scared. They won't go to bed at night by themselves. They won't go into a room by themselves. I can understand why, when this horrendous tragedy happened right in front of them. It just scarred their life forever.

Warnock himself spoke afterwards.

"Words cannot express the heartache I feel every day, the grieving and loss I feel...I am unbelievably sorry. I am devastated. I miss you. You were a great mom. I struggle each day to make it through the day. I don't expect forgiveness. I can't forgive myself. I hope and pray that one day they will be able to call me 'Dad' again."

Marci Theobald stated that Angela Warnock "lived for her girls and died for her girls. You are their father, and you were supposed to be their protector, not their destroyer. This tragedy was felt throughout the community and the state."

Presiding Judge Hendricks Superior Court Judge Robert W. Freese stated that Angie's family and friends should channel their anger at her murder into a desire to protect her daughters.

Woman gets 6 3/4 years in prison for stabbing mother of 5 in love triangle

Whitney Kizart was sentenced to 6 years and 9 months in prison for 2nd degree manslaughter in the death of her "lover's" wife, the mother of 5 kids ranging from 2 to 10. Kizart, 22, from St. Paul, MN, plead guilty in Ramsey County District Court July 2 to stabbing to death 26 year old Jennifer Linnear around 1:15 AM on March 5.

According to police reports, the victim and her husband, Robert Linnear, went to Kizart's St. Paul apartment to confront Kizart about a STD which she infected Bob with. Bob passed the STD on to Jennifer. The victim, got out of the car and started yelling at Kizart before being fatally stabbed by the perpetrator.

Shon Cannon read the victim impact statement before sentencing.

I had the honor and pleasure of loving my cousin for 26 years but her children will not. ... Their mother was not taken from them due to an ailment, accident or surgery that went wrong, but by murder.

Jennifer did not live a life that was flawless or of luxury, but she would give a family member or stranger whatever she had, and most importantly her children. Her children were the center of her joy and her reason for trying to improve in life.

District Judge James H. Clark also fined Kizart $1000 and ordered restitution.