A former US Marine from Long Island has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing his pregnant wife because he didn’t want the baby – or have to pay for the child’s health insurance.
Michael Owen, 30, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted in August of second-degree murder for strangling his 27-year-old partner Kelly Owen in her Farmingdale home in 2020 while she was pregnant with their second child, Newsday reported.
Owen – a cell tower technician whose DNA was found on the neck of his nursing student wife – denied killing her before he was sentenced.
“He killed her in a violent and personal way,” Kelly’s father, Frank Bretana, said in Nassau County court. “He knew he had to carry on until he knew he was gone. He knew he had to see her die.”
Bretana recalled seeing her daughter “lying on her back in her bed – she was cold and lifeless” – and hearing her wife’s screams of dismay at the sight of their child’s body.
“It’s an image that no one needs to see. Diane screamed, followed by a swirl of activity. The medic came out, put his hand on his shoulder, and told him that Kelly was gone,” he said, referring to his wife, Kelly’s mother.
Michael Owen, 30, a former Marine from Long Island, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing his estranged wife, Kelly Owen, because she was pregnant and he did not want the child. Nassau County Police
Owen looked straight ahead as Brittany spoke and didn’t react to his father-in-law’s heartbreaking words, according to the news outlet.
“I didn’t do this,” the killer said before handing down the sentence, Newsday reported.
He and Kelly — who married in 2013 and had a daughter that year — had been arguing about medical insurance and money issues at the time of the murder, said Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick in 2020.
“He doesn’t want this child. He didn’t want to give her medical insurance. He has a new relationship that he’s involved in, and he’s in a bad position,” Fitzpatrick said after Kelly was killed.
Kelly Owen, 27, strangled to death in 2020. Nassau County Police
The couple separated in March 2018 over financial and other matters but continued a “physical and intimate” relationship, he said. Kelly lives with her parents, brother and daughter Bryn.
A medical examiner determined that he died of asphyxiation.
Kelly works as an assistant at an elementary school. When he didn’t show up for work, a co-worker called his parents, who found his body, prosecutors said.
“Michael Owen drove to his estranged wife’s home on January 15, 2020, with the intention of killing her,” said Nassau DA Anne Donnelly, according to Newsday.
Michael Owen was convicted of second degree murder.
“Kelly was a young mother and pregnant with Owen’s child at the time of his brutal murder. She works with children and has dreams of becoming a nurse. Michael Owen stole that dream, and now he will pay for his crime in prison,” he added.
Bretana recounted how she had to tell her grandson, who was 6 at the time, that his mother had died.
“We brought Bryn home – we hid her. We went into Bryn’s room and told her that her mother was an angel in heaven. She went into her closet and started crying,” she told the court, the outlet reported.
Owen’s attorney, Joseph Hanshe, has filed an appeal and vowed to continue fighting to clear his client.
“As of today, we believe that he is innocent, and we will continue to fight this conviction,” he said.
But Judge Robert McDonald denied Owen’s request to set aside the verdict.
“The place you go is a cold dark place, but not as cold and dark as your heart,” the judge told the killer. “It is my great hope that Bryn never has to see or speak to you for the rest of your life.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
