When it was time for him to speak, Krit Thanaratanasophon quietly turned his back on the judge. Placing his hands together as if in prayer, he bowed to the family of his slain wife in what is considered a traditional show of humility and respect among Asian cultures.
Then he dropped to the floor of the courtroom in sobs.Thanaratanasophon was sentenced Thursday in 3rd District Court to five years to life in prison for the October 1998 stabbing death of his wife, Heather Belsey.
"I ask forgiveness of the family who have been good to me," he said through a Thai interpreter after composing himself. "I am also sincere in my love to them and I hope that someday there will be a forgiveness. I still love and respect them as before."
Belsey's father, George Belsey, immediately responded to his former son-in-law with a bow.
"I do want to thank Krit for pleading guilty and not putting the family through a trial," Belsey said. "And I do want to say that we forgive Krit."
Thanaratanasophon was scheduled to go on trial Wednesday on a murder charge in his wife's stabbing death at their Salt Lake home last year. The trial was halted by his guilty plea.
Thanaratanasophon and George Belsey's emotional exchange brought nearly everyone in the courtroom to tears -- even Judge William Barrett.
"I've done this for 23 years and this is honestly one of the saddest cases I've ever had," defense attorney Ed Brass said. "In a brief moment of passion and rage, in a marriage that was disintegrating, he acted out in a way he has never ever acted out before."
After stabbing his wife in the throat last fall, Thanaratanasophon called 911 and told the dispatcher he had just killed his wife.
"I think this (plea agreement) is induced basically by his willingness to take responsibility for his actions," prosecutor Kent Morgan said. "I think he has definitely had a lot of opportunities to go forward with the trial and a lot of pressure not to enter the plea."
It isn't likely Thanaratanasophon will spend the rest of his life in prison.
"We're going to write a letter to the Board of Pardons saying he should serve no more than 15 years before he is deported to his home country of Thailand," Morgan said.
"We just think the justice system worked well and justice was served," George Belsey said.
Not everyone was praising the balances of justice after Thanaratanasophon's plea, though.
Moments before Thanaratanasophon entered his guilty plea Wednesday, Charlotte Maxwell, the woman who paid the $150,000 cash bail to get Thanaratanasophon out of jail Aug. 23, pleaded with him not to plead guilty to murder, but instead try for manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by no more than 15 years in prison.
Brass originally argued Thanaratanasophon's confession to police an hour and a half after the murder was not admissable evidence because the interpreter was not officially certified. This lack of clear communication may have prevented Thanaratanasophon from fully understanding his rights to remain silent and consult with an attorney before talking to police, Brass originally argued.
Thanaratanasophon allegedly rushed toward Belsey with a kitchen knife as she was sitting on her kitchen floor putting on her socks and shoes to go play volleyball, according to preliminary hearing testimony back in March.
The knife pierced her in the neck twice, and Belsey raised her arms, grasping the knife, pushing her husband's face.
As the struggle continued, Thanaratanasophon noticed the couple's baby daughter watching the melee and crying. Their child has since been adopted by Heather Belsey's brother and sister-in-law.