Man Gets Life in Prison for Murdering and Attempting to Behead Wife Because She Wanted to Move to Florida

A man who fatally stabbed his wife with a pocket knife and attempted to behead her has been sentenced to life in prison.

Donny William Eaton, 65, pleaded guilty Monday to felony murder, malice murder, and aggravated assault after negotiating a plea deal. He was sentenced to life in prison later that day, WGCL reported. Eaton admitted to authorities that he used a pocket knife to slit the throat of his wife, Roxanne Tenore Eaton, 66, in an attempt to behead her on April 7 in their Marietta, Georgia, home.

He told authorities that he got into a fight with his wife after she disclosed that she bought a house in Florida to be closer to the couple’s children and grandchildren. Soon after the killing, Eaton drove to his mother’s grave and called 911 from there to confess to the murder.

When the police arrived at the home, they found Eaton’s dead wife with multiple stab wounds to her neck and face, the Associated Press reported.

“Donny Eaton took the life of his wife in a gruesome manner, with it appearing that he was attempting to decapitate her, all because she wanted to be closer to her children and grandchildren in Florida to live out the remainder of their lives,” Senior Cobb County Assistant District Attorney Patricia Hull said in a statement.