Commerce City Man Gets 48 Years For Wife's Beating Death
BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — A Commerce City man who beat his wife to death has been sentenced to 48 years in prison.
Prosecutors say 38-year-old Derek Johnston, of Commerce City, was sentenced Thursday for the Oct. 6 death of 38-year-old Melissa Ehrmann. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Johnston called police Sept. 6 saying he had helped his wife into bed after she fell down the stairs and that she was unconscious when he awoke in the morning. Ehrmann was removed from life support a month later.
Police were called four times by Ehrmann's co-workers in July and August requesting welfare checks after they saw signs of abuse.
Adams County District Judge Don Quick said the brutality of the fatal beating and the number of blows required to inflict that amount of trauma were "unfathomable."
(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
