A Clarke County Superior Court judge sentenced a mentally ill man to life in prison Wednesday for stabbing his wife to death at their home in Southeast Athens-Clarke County two years ago.
William Darwin Studstill, 32, who had been set to go on trial Nov. 7 for killing Stephanie Ann Mansfield Studstill, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault.
A prosecutor last month filed notice that if Studstill were to be found guilty at trial, he would ask the judge to sentence him to life without parole.
It appeared as though Studstill was prepared for trial, and Tuesday morning he even filed notice that he planned to call an Athens psychologist as a defense witness, according to court records.
But later that day, defense attorney Edward Tolley and prosecutors hammered out an agreement in which Studstill would plead guilty to murdering his wife and be sentenced to life in prison — with the possibility of parole after 30 years — where he would receive treatment for his mental illness.
Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lawton Stephens approved the agreement during Wednesday’s hearing.
Studstill tried to express remorse for killing his wife, but was overcome with emotion and unable to continue speaking after telling the judge that he was sorry.
His parents sat in the gallery behind the defense table, while Stephanie Studstill’s family members sat across the aisle from them.
Before the judge passed sentence, District Attorney Ken Mauldin described Stephanie Studstill’s death as “very tragic, very violent.”
The victim’s sister, Christina Mansfield-Ivey, said in an interview soon after the murder that her family decided to have Stephanie’s body cremated because it was so badly mutilated.
William Studstill stabbed his wife to death the morning of Nov. 17, 2009, in the couple’s apartment at Clarke Gardens off Barnett Shoals Road, then drove to his mother’s house in Decatur, where he called 911 to report that he had “just killed his whole family.”
He surrendered after a local police SWAT team surrounded the home.
Studstill had a long history of hospitalizations for mental illness, and two months before he killed his wife he suffered an apparent breakdown and was hospitalized, police said.
Stephanie Studstill told officers at the time that her husband had tried to blow up the microwave oven by loading it with aerosol cans and a lamp, and later tried to break her neck while she was in bed, according to police.
People who lived near the Studstills at Clarke Gardens said in interviews that Stephanie was friendly and outgoing; she treated children to cookies she baked and invited neighbors when the couple hosted meetings with fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
They also saw William Studstill act strangely, like when he practiced karate outside in the pouring rain, the neighbors said.
When he took on the case, Tolley asked for a civil court jury to decide whether Studstill was competent to assist in his own defense, but Tolley withdrew the request in June, after medication helped improve Studstill’s understanding of the criminal charges and court process.
If Studstill had gone to trial and was found guilty, Assistant District Attorney James Chafin had planned to seek life in prison without parole because, the prosecutor argued in court filings, Studstill was a recidivist.
In two separate cases 10 years ago in Pennsylvania, Studstill was convicted of robbery, burglary, conspiracy, theft and several other felonies, according to the prosecutor’s notice.
Studstill will now be taken to a Georgia Department of Corrections diagnostic facility, where doctors will determine the severity of his mental illness and place him in the appropriate prison where he can be treated, Tolley said.
“His release from prison, if ever, will depend on successfully treating his mental health issues,” the attorney said.
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