Athena
April 25th, 2008, 05:22 PM
This is a strange fucking story:
Woman pleads guilty to killing bigamist spouse
NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania -- A woman pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree murder for killing her bigamist husband just hours before he was to leave for Morocco to visit his second wife.
Myra Morton, 48, was upset about the new marriage and her husband's plans to have children with the younger woman, authorities have said. She shot her 47-year-old husband, Jereleigh Morton, twice in the head in August while he slept, and initially blamed an intruder.
She faces from five to 20 years in prison, said defense lawyer Brian McMonagle.
"I don't think there's any question in anybody's mind that the act was intentional," McMonagle said. "We have always maintained that it was based on a lot of passion, and it was caused by the emotional turmoil that she was going through."
Jereleigh Morton met his second wife, 37-year-old Zahra Toural, last year on the Internet, prosecutors said. In keeping with Muslim custom, Myra Morton traveled to Morocco to bless the marriage, but police say she grew to resent the arrangement.
Her husband allegedly said that if she didn't like it, she should get a divorce.
The Mortons had converted to Islam about 20 years ago.
As Myra Morton's resentment about the second marriage grew, she wrote the U.S. State Department a letter in April 2007 in which she said Toural had terrorist ties. She hoped the letter would keep Toural away from the U.S., authorities have said.
Toural last month responded with a defamation suit against Myra Morton.
Weirdness (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/25/bigamistl.slaing.ap/index.html)
_________
Okay - let's break it down:
These folks didn't convert to Islam until they were, like, 30. They are devout enough that they 1.) are down with a second marriage and 2.) this dude has his wife bless his second marriage. YET, they're not so devout that divorce is actually a casual option? WTF? This dude must have thought Islam was a pretty sweet deal. Too bad it got him killed. It's like some weird, reverse honor killing.
Interestingly enough, a case that could have easily qualified for murder 1 is, instead, settling for 5-20 years (manslaughter?). I don't buy that it's because this is a "crime of passion", which is a valid mitigating factor. I wonder if it's because the DA feels kinda bad for this lady, who married some Muslim wannabe who tried to screw her in the end.
Still, she should have just divorced him.
Woman pleads guilty to killing bigamist spouse
NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania -- A woman pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree murder for killing her bigamist husband just hours before he was to leave for Morocco to visit his second wife.
Myra Morton, 48, was upset about the new marriage and her husband's plans to have children with the younger woman, authorities have said. She shot her 47-year-old husband, Jereleigh Morton, twice in the head in August while he slept, and initially blamed an intruder.
She faces from five to 20 years in prison, said defense lawyer Brian McMonagle.
"I don't think there's any question in anybody's mind that the act was intentional," McMonagle said. "We have always maintained that it was based on a lot of passion, and it was caused by the emotional turmoil that she was going through."
Jereleigh Morton met his second wife, 37-year-old Zahra Toural, last year on the Internet, prosecutors said. In keeping with Muslim custom, Myra Morton traveled to Morocco to bless the marriage, but police say she grew to resent the arrangement.
Her husband allegedly said that if she didn't like it, she should get a divorce.
The Mortons had converted to Islam about 20 years ago.
As Myra Morton's resentment about the second marriage grew, she wrote the U.S. State Department a letter in April 2007 in which she said Toural had terrorist ties. She hoped the letter would keep Toural away from the U.S., authorities have said.
Toural last month responded with a defamation suit against Myra Morton.
Weirdness (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/25/bigamistl.slaing.ap/index.html)
_________
Okay - let's break it down:
These folks didn't convert to Islam until they were, like, 30. They are devout enough that they 1.) are down with a second marriage and 2.) this dude has his wife bless his second marriage. YET, they're not so devout that divorce is actually a casual option? WTF? This dude must have thought Islam was a pretty sweet deal. Too bad it got him killed. It's like some weird, reverse honor killing.
Interestingly enough, a case that could have easily qualified for murder 1 is, instead, settling for 5-20 years (manslaughter?). I don't buy that it's because this is a "crime of passion", which is a valid mitigating factor. I wonder if it's because the DA feels kinda bad for this lady, who married some Muslim wannabe who tried to screw her in the end.
Still, she should have just divorced him.