MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - A southwestern Oregon woman will serve 25 years to life in prison for shooting her estranged husband in the head.
The Mail Tribune reports on Friday, a jury found 74-year-old Louise Richards guilty of second-degree murder in the Aug. 28, 2017, shooting death of her husband, 70-year-old Terry Richards, at the home they shared in Central Point.
She was sentenced by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Tim Barnack.
Louise and Terry Richards lived in the same house despite divorce proceedings going back roughly a year, according to court documents.
The day of the shooting, Louise Richards worked a shift at the school bus yard, paid a $1,400 divorce-related legal bill, made herself lunch and drank “one to three glasses of wine,” according to deputy district attorney Ben Lull.
The couple then argued about terms of a divorce settlement previously negotiated through a mediation process. The victim told the defendant he wanted to seek more than the current settlement would have given him, Lull wrote.
Prosecutors said Louise Richards retreated to her bedroom, emerged later with a handgun and shot Terry Richards while he was sitting in a recliner. She called a friend and then called 911, prosecutors said.
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