Gordon Weaver, who was convicted of murdering his wife in 1999 and setting their White Bear Lake house on fire, on Tuesday lost his appeal for a shorter prison term.
The state Court of Appeals affirmed Weaver's prison sentence of 18 years and nine months, which was about six years more than required by state guidelines. He had argued that Ramsey County District Judge Salvador Rosas abused his discretion by imposing the longer sentence.
Weaver, 54, was originally sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of unintentional murder in 2005, but the Court of Appeals granted him a new trial in 2007.
Rosas decided that case in 2010, finding Weaver guilty of two counts of second-degree unintentional murder that resulted from arson and third-degree assault for the death of his wife, Jean. While Weaver had requested a sentence of eight years and nine months, Rosas ordered the longer sentence because of the "particular cruelty" Weaver showed by failing to call for help after his wife struck her head and instead trying to burn her body.
Weaver testified in his trials that he pushed his wife and she hit her head on a concrete tub. He said he decided to burn the house because he believed his wife was dead. After Weaver was charged with the murder, he fled while on bail and hid in an Oregon town until 2004. He was caught after his case appeared on an episode of "America's Most Wanted."
LORA PABST
