Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 24, 1990 TAG: 9005240622
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE:
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short
Richard Lee de Boisblanc was convicted May 4 of shooting his wife, Kimberly, after she had held a knife to the throat of the couple's daughter. He then put his wife's body in a bathtub where it stayed until visitors complained of the smell and discovered the body.
Circuit Judge Lydia C. Taylor, in finding de Boisblanc guilty of voluntary manslaughter, ruled the killing was not premeditated and was done without malice. The judge sentenced de Boisblanc to 10 years in prison, but suspended all but 14 months, which de Boisblanc already had served awaiting trial.
Wednesday, he was released from custody.
Kent Porter, who prosecuted de Boisblanc, said there was nothing in the law to stop de Boisblanc from collecting his wife's $25,000 life insurance policy. Porter said if de Boisblanc has been convicted of murder, he would have been barred from collecting the insurance.
According to testimony at the trial, Kimberly de Boisblanc was diagnosed as a manic-depressive.
His 3-year-old daughter has been adopted by a family outside of Virginia, and de Boisblanc said he wanted to share the money with his daughter.
- Associated Press
by CNB