Riverside, CA: Husband convicted of killing wife for insurance

The Associated Press
Posted: 09/15/2009 08:52:24 AM PDT
Updated: 09/15/2009 08:52:25 AM PDT

RIVERSIDE, Calif.—Jurors have convicted a debt-ridden Riverside County man for killing his wife in an effort to collect $1.3 million from life insurance policies.
Kelle Lee Jarka was found guilty of first-degree murder for financial gain by a jury that began deliberations in a French Valley courtroom late Friday and reached verdicts before noon Monday.
Testimony showed the 41-year-old Murrieta man was "drowning in debt" and he took out several life insurance policies on his 40-year-old wife Isabelle weeks before the killing. She was bludgeoned in the couple's bedroom in April 28.