WACO, Texas (AP) _ Jurors on Thursday sentenced a former Texas minister to 65 years in prison for killing his wife and trying to cover it up as a suicide.
Jurors deliberated two hours before imposing the sentence for 38-year-old Matt Baker. He faced from probation to life in prison for slipping his wife sleeping pills and suffocating her in 2006.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Crawford Long — who previously called Baker a “murdering minister” — said he killed his wife in “cold-blooded cruelty” and seemed to take pleasure in getting away with it.
Defense attorney Harold Danford said Baker “did some things he’s not proud of” but reminded jurors that Baker is eligible for probation because he had not previously been convicted of a felony.