Man Gets 50+ Years For Grisly Wife Murder
Stephen Grant Choked Wife Tara, Then Dismembered Corpse; Judge Calls Actions "Demonic"
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Stephen Grant is shown in this photo provided by the Macomb County Sheriff's Department. Grant confessed to killing and dismembering his wife, and described the grisly details surrounding her death, a sheriff said on March 5, 2007. He was sentenced Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 to serve a minimum of 50 years in prison. (AP)
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This photo released by the Macomb County, Mich. Sheriffs Department shows Tara Grant in an undated photo. Her husband, Stephen Grant was sentenced Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 to serve a minimum of 50 years behind bars for murder by a judge who decried his actions as "demonic, manipulative, barbaric and dishonest." (AP Photo)
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Stephen Grant, 38, choked his wife Tara to death then cut up her corpse in a machine shop. After the killing, he tearfully told reporters he was not involved in her disappearance.
Grant, on the advice of his lawyer, did not speak during the sentencing.
A jury found him guilty in December of second-degree murder. Prosecutors had sought a first-degree murder conviction, but the jury could not unanimously agree that Grant's actions were premeditated.
"Stephen Grant is evil personified," Prosecutor Eric Smith said.
As part of the Prosecutor Eric Smith's sentencing proposal, Smith revealed for the first time that the Grant children had witnessed their mother's murder, reports CBS News radio affiliate WWJ in Detroit.
Tara Grant's sister Alicia Standerfer told prosecutors about the new development after the Grants' daughter informed her on Christmas Day that she had watched her father strangle her mother, reports WWJ.
The defense was seeking a sentence of 15 to 25 years, and he was sentenced to 50 to 80 years in the killing. He received 6 to 10 years for mutilating the body.
Judge Diane Druzinski said she was satisfied with the sentence and called Grant's actions "demonic, manipulative, barbaric and dishonest."
Grant contacted the Macomb County sheriff's department on Feb. 14, 2007, and said he had not seen his wife since they argued Feb. 9 about her frequent business trips overseas.
On March 2, Grant borrowed a friend's pickup truck and drove away after allowing deputies inside his house to execute a search warrant. They found Tara Grant's torso in a container in the garage, and a warrant for his arrest was issued the next day.
Authorities picked up Grant's trail by tracking cell phone calls that led them to Wilderness State Park, more than 200 miles north of Grant's home. He was found hiding under a tree and wearing only a shirt, slacks and socks in 14-degree weather.
During the trial, a jury heard a graphic, three-hour recorded confession Grant gave while being treated for frostbite and hypothermia at a hospital.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Not 50 years. "he was sentenced to 50 to 80 years in the killing. He received 6 to 10 years for mutilating the body." He''ll die in prison.
What an embarrassment to actually have to decide on whether this murderer thought about killing and dismembering his wife .. and in front of his children yet?
MURDER is MURDER .. only in the USA could one have different degrees ...
and this kook gets 50 years minimum ...
hopefully he hangs himself before the taxpayers have to pay for his appeal ...
SHAMEFUL !!!
Posted by suzieh2308 at 02:30 PM : Feb 21, 2008"
So would you tell your kids to go to their rooms first? Would that make murder better maybe? The jury was split over whether the murder was premeditated. Is killing someone on the spur of the moment excusable? Can we say "Sorry, didn''t mean to kill you" and it''s not so bad?
Murder is murder is murder. I don''t care why a person kills an innocent person, its the act of killing the innocent that makes it murder. Didn''t mean to or didn''t plan to doesn''t change the nature of killing a person who didn''t deserve to die.
When someone performs an act of violence, they are signing up for the consequences of their actions, premeditated or not. People need to be careful not sorrowful about their actions. When we excuse the murder of the innocent for any reason, we make ourselves accomplices to the murder. Our society demonstrates its lack of respect for each other by letting murderers off easy for their crimes.
- by suzieh2308 February 21, 2008 5:30 PM EST
- This could be the sickest story I have ever heard! It''s one thing to kill your wife, but to do it in front of your kids???
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