Man who Raped Veterans Wife Front Him Killing Both Learns his Fate

A man convicted of raping a veteran’s wife in front of her husband before murdering them both stood in a Texas courtroom last week and learned what the rest of his life will look like. Jurors had already found him guilty on all counts after a trial that laid out the details of the 2013 attack in a rural home outside San Antonio. The defendant, 32, showed little reaction when the judge imposed two life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 99 years for the sexual assault.

Prosecutors said the man broke into the couple’s house one night while they slept. He tied up the veteran, then forced his wife to the floor and assaulted her while her husband watched. After the rape, he shot both victims multiple times before fleeing with cash and a handgun. The veteran had served two tours in Iraq and was working as a mechanic at the time of his death. His wife had been a nurse at a local clinic.

The lone survivor of the night was the couple’s teenage son, who had been staying with relatives. He testified during the punishment phase about finding his parents’ bodies the next morning. Defense attorneys argued that their client had a troubled childhood and substance problems, but the jury rejected any call for leniency after less than two hours of deliberation.

Family members of the victims told reporters outside the courthouse that no sentence could bring back what was taken. The judge’s ruling means the man will spend the rest of his days in a maximum-security prison with no chance of release. Court records show he had prior convictions for burglary and drug possession, though nothing approaching the violence of this case.