SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) A Springfield woman who killed her live-in boyfriend with a crowbar in 2017 has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that 47-year-old Jeanette Riddle pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter. She had originally been charged with second-degree murder after police say she fatally beat 44-year-old Michael Butts with a crowbar in February 2017, then cut her wrists in an attempt to take her own life.
Riddle’s attorney had argued she was the victim of yearslong domestic abuse at the hands of Butts. He had planned to mount a “battered spouse syndrome” defense before Riddle took the plea deal.
Court documents say family members told investigators the couple’s relationship was physically abusive.
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