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Husband Sentenced To Prison In 1994 Poisoning-Murder Of Wife

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — A 58-year-old man was sentenced to prison Friday for murdering his wife for financial gain in 1994.

According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, Paul Marshal Curry, of Salina, Kansas, was ordered to spend his life in state prison without the possibility of parole.

Paul-Curry
Paul Curry (courtesy Orange County District Attorney's office)

On Sept. 30, Curry was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of special circumstances murder for financial gain, with a sentencing enhancement for murder by poisoning.

During the trial, his former wife testified that she frequently felt ill during the last year of their marriage, and said Curry suggested they both sign up for life insurance policies.

When her policy was denied, the couple separated and her reoccurring health problems disappeared.

Prosecutors said Curry called 911 on June 9, 1994, reporting that his wife, Linda, was in bed and not breathing.

Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department rushed to their home and transported Linda to a hospital; however, she died hours later.

Linda Curry
(credit: Orange County District Attorney's Office)

Curry used Nicotine to poison his wife of two years, the district attorney's office explained. During that year, he remained a suspect, but the case went cold.

According to the district attorney's office, the OCSD reopened the case in 2007.

In 2010, Curry was arrested in Kansas by OCSD deputies, and was subsequently extradited to face charges in Orange County.

During the sentencing, Linda's niece, Rickianne Rycraft, delivered an impact statement stating, "She was not prepared or equipped to recognize or deal with a predatory psychopath, who lacks empathy or conscience, who is able to feign affection indefinitely, who is a master liar and con artist capable of murder."

The district attorney's office reported Curry collected over $500,000 from Linda's life insurance policies as a result of her death.

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