Philip Mathew, an Indian American, was sentenced to life in prison in Florida for the murder of his 26-year-old wife, Merin Joy. According to the Sun Sentinel, in the year 2020, Mathew ran over Joy's body with his car after stabbing her seventeen times.
The deceased was a native of Kottayam, Kerala. She had been working as a nurse at the time, and it was upon leaving the facility that the incident occurred. According to the report, Joy was planning to end her relationship with Mathew before he killed her.
Mathew entered a plea of no contest to charges of first-degree murder of his wife with a deadly weapon on November 3, 2023, and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. For aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, he received the maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.
The death penalty was dropped because the defendant was guaranteed a life sentence and chose not to appeal, according to Paula McMahon, a spokeswoman for the Florida State Attorney's Office. Following the court's verdict, Joy's relative reportedly said, "Her mother is glad to know her daughter’s killer would remain the rest of his years in jail and she is relieved to know the legal process is over.”
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