Susan Wright Fatally Stabbed Husband 193 Times: Will Her New Sentence be Probation?
HOUSTON (CBS) A Texas mother of two currently serving 25 years to life for fatally stabbing her husband almost 200 times may have a chance at probation as a second jury convenes to reconsider her sentence.
Although Susan Wright, who was found guilty of her husband Jeffrey's murder in 2003, alleged she stabbed her husband in self-defense, Harris County district attorneys claimed "the blue-eyed butcher" tied his limbs to the bed in an act of seduction and then proceeded to stab him over and over again, reports CNN.
An appellate court upheld Wright's first-degree murder conviction, but grappled with the sentencing citing her attorneys inability to do their job in the penalty phase of the case, says CNN.
After seven years of uncertainty, a new jury has been named and began hearing testimony Friday to decide anew the fate of Wright, who this time could get anything from probation to life in prison for the fatal attack.
According to CNN, Wright's appellate attorney, Brian Wice, chalked up his client's 25-to-life sentence to the combination of inexperienced defense attorneys who failed to examine crucial witnesses, and the expertise of the prosecutor who "steamrolled" his way through the case.
However, the prosecution believed that the facts - especially the fact that Jeffrey Wright had been tied to the bed - told a story not of self-defense, but of cold-blooded murder.
Throughout Susan Wright's trial, her lawyer described Wright as a victim of domestic abuse, claiming her husband's drug use led to violent outbursts directed at his client, as well as the children.
After years of enduring his alleged torture, the defense said Wright had enough and used the knife Jeffrey had allegedly brandished to try to kill her to repeatedly stab him. Then instead of coming forward about her "lapse of reality," Wright proceeded to bury his body, clean the crime scene, and remain tight-lipped about his whereabouts.
Six days after she had buried her husband next to the family's patio, Susan Wright broke down and admitted that her husband's body was on the family's property.
Despite Wright's claim of innocence, a jury found her guilty of murdering her husband in 2003.