There was no suspense about the prison sentence of Iowa man Todd Mullis. As a matter of law, he was going to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the first-degree murder of his wife, Amy Mullis. That is what happened on Friday.
#ToddMullis – Judge sentences Todd Mullis to life in prison. He is escorted from the courtroom. pic.twitter.com/iVgjJjNYDZ
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 4, 2020
At sentencing, Mullis disowned the strategy of his trial attorney, who said that Amy Mullis was indeed murdered, just not by the defendant. Mullis asserted on Friday that he never agreed that his spouse was killed by anyone. Instead, he maintained that her death was a fatal accident.
#ToddMullis – Mullis’ new attorney tells the judge that Mullis never agreed that his wife’s death was a murder. He had always maintained it must have been an accident. Atty says Mullis’ trial atty admitting in openings that it was a murder was not with Mullis’ consent.
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 4, 2020
#ToddMullis SPEAKS – “I did not do this.” He said he was a faithful, loving husband. pic.twitter.com/BQvDDpwQyB
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 4, 2020
Prosecutors said that the defendant ambushed his wife on their pig farm on November 10, 2018. The victim was recovering from a recent surgery. He stabbed her to death with a corn rake, then tried to make it look like an accident, prosecutors said.
Jurors faced evidence not just about the immediate crime scene, but about the couple’s rocky marriage. In part, they were asked to decide whether their union was on the mend after Amy Mullis allegedly engaged in an affair, or whether Todd Mullis long contemplated killing her.
Watch Live at 1 pm CT/2 pm ET: Todd Mullis Sentenced in Murder of Wife Amy Mullis https://t.co/zd8lfZiPZF via @lawcrimenews pic.twitter.com/J26dWZ8omU
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 4, 2020
#ToddMullis – End of August, first of Sept 2018 Mullis confronted Jerry Frasher about having an affair with his wife. Frasher denied it. Todd also called Jerry’s wife and then told Amy he had contacted both of them. After talking to Amy, Todd said he apologized to the Frashers pic.twitter.com/eaD4Auknsq
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 19, 2019
According to authorities, Todd Mullis’s hostility manifested itself in disturbing web searches and controlling behavior. Investigators said that Amy Mullis wanted to leave him amid another affair, and she voiced concern about what he might do to her, according to a Delaware County Sheriff’s Office affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
“If he catches me,” she said, “he might make me disappear.”
[Screengrab via Law&Crime Network]
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