Man sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of wife in Virginia – au pair receives 10-year sentence

A 40-year-old man in Virginia planned the murder of his wife together with the couple's au pair, with whom he was having an affair. Both have now been convicted.

Double murder in Virginia: husband staged break-in to conceal murder of his wife

A 40-year-old man in Virginia, USA, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his wife and an unrelated man in February 2023, reports Göteborgs-Posten. The couple's 25-year-old au pair, with whom the husband was having an affair, has been sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for manslaughter.

The plan involved luring an unknown man through an advertisement on an adult website, where the couple claimed the wife was seeking someone willing to stage a rape fantasy. A man in his 30s responded to the advertisement and visited the home one night in February 2023. The husband is said to have shot him with a pistol and then stabbed his wife with a knife. The crime scene was then staged to make it appear he had intervened to protect his wife.

In the initial phase, the au pair supported the man's version of a break-in. However, after a lengthy investigation, it emerged that she had conspired with the husband to kill the wife and then place the blame on the unrelated man, according to prosecutors, as cited by AP.

The au pair was initially charged with murder but reached an agreement with the prosecution: she pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified against the 40-year-old. The basis for the manslaughter charge was that she is said to have fired a shot at the man in his 30s.

The husband has been convicted of multiple crimes, including murder and endangering a child – the couple's daughter, who was seven years old and present in the home at the time of the murders.

"Your indifference towards your wife's life, someone you presumably loved, is almost incomprehensible," the judge said.

The 40-year-old has stated that it was the au pair who was behind the plan. He admits that he was unfaithful to his wife, but claims that he never intended to murder her, according to NBC News.

After the murder, the au pair and the man are said to have continued their relationship, according to prosecutors.

Source: Göteborgs-Posten