A jury deliberated for less than two hours Friday before finding a Rhea County, Tennessee, woman guilty of first-degree murder in the April 2017 shooting death of her husband.
Patricia Kaye Wilkey, 52, had taken the stand in her own defense Thursday. She admitted to killing Thomas Richard "Skipper" Wilkey, 51, but testified that her husband was mean when he had been drinking and had changed mentally during their marriage. She said his behaviors involved "crazy random stuff" that had no basis in reality and that he spoke to people who were not present.
Patricia Wilkey had been arrested the day of the shooting, April 24, 2017. Skipper Wilkey had been shot twice in the head in a bedroom in the couple's home on Dayton Mountain, officials said.
Her conviction carries an automatic life sentence, according to Assistant District Attorney David Shinn.