Michigan Woman Sentenced To 18 To 35 Years For Husband's Killing
PETOSKEY, Mich. (AP) - A Northern Michigan woman said Tuesday that she is ashamed of herself for shooting her husband to death.
Carol Kopenkoskey, 60, was sentenced in a Petoskey courtroom to 18 to 35 years in prison in Lyle Kopenkoskey's slaying.
"I am sorry for what I have done," she told 57th Circuit Court Judge Charles Johnson. "I still don't know what came over me and made me snap to do such an evil thing."
Lyle Kopenkoskey's body was found in October 2012 near his pickup truck in Resort Township, northeast of Traverse City. His family reported him missing after the 58-year-old failed to report to work or return home.
Carol Kopenkoskey told investigators she drove her husband out to the area and shot him five times. The gun was taken apart and later tossed from the Mackinac Bridge into the Straits of Mackinac.
"It's been a long journey through the judicial system" for all families involved, Lyle's brother Carl Kopenkoskey said Tuesday in court. "Someday it will be judgment day where Carol will have to stand before our maker. Lord have mercy on her soul."
Carol Kopenkoskey originally was charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder. The plea keeps her eligible for parole. She also has agreed to testify against others charged in the case.
Earlier this month, 59-year-old John Ernst of Levering was arraigned on charges that he assisted in the slaying. Investigators say he helped get rid of the gun used to shoot Lyle Kopenkoskey.
Carol Kopenkoskey has said she and Ernst had been having a romantic affair.
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