Fresno, CA: Clovis man guilty in murder of wife

Published online on Friday, Dec. 04, 2009
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee

A Clovis man was convicted Friday of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his estranged wife, but was found not guilty of trying to kill her lover.
Cantrell Ellis, 39, showed no emotion as the verdict was read in Fresno County Superior Court.
During the one-week trial, Ellis testified that he had lost control of his actions once he saw his estranged wife, Charlotte, in bed with another man.
Jurors also convicted Ellis of burglary for breaking into Charlotte Ellis' home, and they found him guilty of assaulting her lover, Sadon Scott.
The panel of six men and six women rejected the prosecution's bid to find Ellis guilty of attempting to murder Scott.

FRESNO BEE FILE
Cantrell Ellis of Clovis, shown at a May 2008 court appearance, was convicted Friday of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his estranged wife.
Jurors review evidence in Clovis murder

Ellis faces a minimum of 16 years to life in prison at his sentencing on Jan. 5.
The couple had been married 14 years but had recently separated.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Michael Frye said Ellis went to his estranged wife's house during the early hours of May 2, 2008, to spy on her. When Ellis saw Scott in Charlotte Ellis' bed, he attacked the two in a jealous rage, Frye said.
Police later found Charlotte Ellis with six fatal stab wounds and 42 slashes to her body, lawyers said.
Attorney Sal Sciandra, who represents Ellis, said the attack was done in the heat of passion. He and his client were hoping for a conviction of a lesser charge of manslaughter.
"I believe justice was not done in this case," Sciandra said after the verdict. "Anyone in his position would have been provoked."
Sciandra said he plans to file an appeal.
Jurors left the courthouse without commenting. During deliberations, they had reviewed crime-scene photos, inspected the two knives that were used to kill the mother of three children, and listened to Charlotte Ellis' 911 call before she was killed.
"Why, Charlotte, why?" Cantrell Ellis shouted in the recording as his wife cried during the 911 call before she was stabbed to death in her home on the 2600 block of Sierra Madre Avenue.
In another 911 call played to the panel, a neighbor tells police dispatch that she can hear a woman crying and a man saying: "Why did you lie to me?"
Ellis testified that he and his wife were unfaithful to each other, but they always got back together. During their separation, Ellis said he had gone to his estranged wife's home at least three times to check on her and his children because it gave him peace of mind and allowed him to sleep.
But on the night of the stabbing, he admitted he drank alcohol and used a rock to break a window to enter her home once he saw Scott in bed. He testified that he wrestled with Scott, who escaped through the front door, but didn't remember killing his estranged wife.
Ellis compared the incident to an "out-of-body" experience. "It was like I'm watching a movie. I'm watching myself doing things that I had no control over," he testified.