PHOENIX, Ariz. — An electrical engineer who claimed he was sleepwalking when he stabbed his wife to death and then held her head underwater was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole.
Scott Falater, 44, was found guilty in June of murdering his wife of 20 years, Yarmila, by a jury that rejected his unorthodox claim that he was fast asleep on a January 1997 night when he stabbed her 44 times with a hunting knife outside their Phoenix home.
The jury heard that after the stabbing Falater dragged his wife to the family swimming pool and held her head underwater. He then changed his clothes and put them and the murder weapon inside a plastic container in his car.
Arizona Superior Court Judge Ronald Reinstein had three options in sentencing Falater: death, life in prison without parole or 25 years followed by parole.
The judge chose to send Falater to prison for the rest of his "natural life" because before the murder, Falater had led an exemplary life and the crime was "inexplicable." In addition, a death sentence for their father would bring more grief to the couple's teenage children, Michael and Megan, he said.
Falater showed no emotion as Reinstein read his ruling to a packed courtroom.
Afterward, prosecutor Juan Martinez said he was satisfied with the sentence, although he had urged the judge to impose the death penalty. "The judge did what he felt was right. I do believe that justice was served."