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LequteMan
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42-year-old Chinese born chemist, Tianle Li has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Xiaoye Wang, a computer software engineer in early 2011.
She was convicted in July of murder and won't be eligible for parole for more than 62 years.
"This was planned, calculated and committed in a cruel and depraved manner," state Superior Court Judge Michael Toto said.
Prosecutors introduced evidence during the trial that Li ordered thallium, a tasteless, odorless poison, through work in 2010 after researching its effects on humans.
Wang, 39, had checked into Princeton Medical Centre in January 2011 after suffering from what appeared to be the flu or some other virus. He eventually lapsed into a coma and died on January 26.
Li continues to deny any role in her husband's death, said her attorney, Steven Altman. In a brief, tear-filled statement read in court Monday, Li said she prays for her husband's soul and will appeal the trial verdict.
Altman pointed out to the judge that Li was at her husband's side in the hospital, even changing his bedpan.
"She was secretly keeping a journal of all his symptoms, wondering when he was going to die," prosecutor Christie Bevacqua told Toto. "She calculated every aspect of her husband's murder; not only how to do it, but how to get away with it. She thought she was going to get away with this murder.
Li came to the US in the late 1990s and has worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb for about 10 years. She met Wang when both were studying at the University of Pennsylvania. They lived in Monroe, in central New Jersey, and prosecutors said at the time of Li's arrest in February 2011 that police had been called to the residence several times for domestic disturbances. The couple had a son who is now 4 years old and in the care of relatives.
