Palm Beach County woman pleads guilty to stabbing husband more than 140 times, sentenced to 35 years in prison
A woman accused of stabbing her husband 140 times was sentenced to 35 years in prison after taking a guilty plea in court Tuesday.
Joan Burke, 62, had her charges lowered from first-degree murder to second-degree murder with a weapon after both sides agreed because of her age.
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In February, Palm Springs Police arrived at the couple's home to find Marvin Weller lying in a pool of blood that covered more than half of the kitchen floor with “multiple stab wounds and lacerations on his body," according to the arrest affidavit.
An autopsy revealed Weller had been stabbed 140 times all over his body and “he also had a skull fracture caused by a blow from a meat cleaver to the right rear of his head.”
And in the bedroom, they discovered Weller’s 61-year-old wife, Joan Burke, with cuts on her hands and not saying a word. Police said cuts are common with offenders of stab wounds because the blade of the weapons becomes slippery and the cutting instrument then slips and digs into the skin.
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In court, the family of Weller took to the stand and shared memories describing the hurt Burke caused them.
Weller had filed for divorce from his long-time wife Joan Burke in late December, according to court records.
Attorney Nicole Hamil-Scott was handling divorce proceedings for Weller. She said one item of possible dispute: supposedly millions of dollars in real estate that under Florida law, would have to be divided. She says she had just had a meeting outlining some of the terms with Burke’s lawyer a week before the murder.
Burke's defense attorney requested a furlough so that she could have a week home with her family for closure before spending her time in prison, but the state objected, saying she was a flight risk and capable of harming herself.
The judge denied the motion.
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