New Jersey man convicted in 2016 murder of estranged wife

Credit: Mdesign/Pixabay

Credit: Mdesign/Pixabay

A New Jersey man was convicted Friday of murdering his estranged wife inside her home while their 12-year-old son watched, the Daily Journal reported.

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Jeremiah E. Monell, 34, was accused of stabbing Tara O'Shea-Watson, 35, nearly 90 times at her home on Dec. 18, 2016, NJ.com reported. O'Shea-Watson suffered stab wounds to her neck, chest and stomach during the attack, the website reported.

Monell faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office. Monell is scheduled to be sentenced March 1, the Daily Journal reported.

Testimony showed that the knives Monelli used were found behind a kitchen stove and one of them had his palm print, the newspaper reported.

According to NJ.com, the child testified he watched from his bedroom as his father choked and stabbed his mother before telling the sobbing boy, "You shouldn't have seen that."

According to trial testimony, Monell moved out of the home in April 2016 after a domestic violence incident, the Daily Journal reported. He was arrested two weeks after the crime in Atlantic County, NJ.com reported.

Monell rejected a plea deal in October, where he would have served 30 years to life imprisonment, the website reported. He now faces a mandatory life sentence without parole.

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