Friday, September 10, 2010

Sparta, WI: Tomah man sentenced to life in prison for estranged wife’s death

By ANNE JUNGEN | ajungen@lacrossetribune.com | Posted: Thursday, September 9, 2010 3:30 pm | (3)

SPARTA — A Tomah man who fatally shot his estranged wife in July 2009 after hearing she might be seeing someone else will serve at least 35 years in prison.
A judge today handed Brent Wilkinson a life sentence for the murder of 37-year-old Teresa Williams, then stipulated he cannot be considered for release for 35 years
Wilkinson, 38, had pleaded guilty in Monroe County Circuit Court to first-degree intentional homicide with use of a dangerous weapon as a domestic abuse offense.
He shot Williams inside her Warrens home on July 22, 2009, while her 14-year-old daughter was upstairs, according to the complaint. He told authorities he went to the home with a 12-gauge shotgun intending “to put a hole in her” after he heard she was dating another man.
Williams, a registered nurse, died of a single gunshot wound to her left side that severely damaged her left lung and aorta.
She tried to keep Wilkinson out of the home when she saw the shotgun, but he forced the door open. Her daughter told police she heard the couple arguing before her mother shouted to her to stay upstairs, according to the complaint.
The couple was married eight years before filing for divorce July 9, 2009.

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