Cabell County Court/WSAZ/WSMVA woman from West Virginia admitted accidentally killing her husband with a dagger during foreplay.
Jennifer Lynn Via was handed a 15-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter after she accidentally stabbed Thomas Via in the heart with a 14-inch decorative dagger as part of sexual foreplay in 2017, the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports.
The 49-year-old, who reportedly has a history of domestic violence towards her husband, was initially charged with first degree murder after she told authorities a number of different stories which didn’t add up. One of the stories claimed her husband slipped on water and fell onto the dagger.
Cabell County Court/WSAZDefending attorney Kerry Nessel told the court Mr and Mrs Via had been watching kung fu movies, which is what led to the couple getting violent and using weapons during foreplay.
Mr Via died on November 4, 2017, after the dagger went seven inches into his back, penetrating his heart. He was taken from his home in Huntington to St Mary’s Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
WSAZ reports that according to one criminal complaint. Mrs Via had ‘a long history of domestic violence towards the victim, including attempting to run him over with a motor vehicle.’
WSMVThe report adds that Cabell County court records show a number of charges against Via dating back to 2010, including malicious wounding, domestic battery and disorderly conduct.
Under US law, voluntary manslaughter involves the intentional killing of a person in which the offender did not have the prior intent to kill, although they have the intention of causing serious injury.
In West Virginia it is generally understood to refer to a killing which happens in the heat of passion, with provocation, without malice.
Cabell County Court/Google MapsIt’s punishable by a maximum term of 15 years behind bars, which is the sentence handed to Mrs Via following the death of her husband.
A woman in Florida died last year after her lover shot her during a risky sex game involving a loaded gun, The Sun reports.
Paloma Williams, 24, was shot in the chest during foreplay with her lover 23-year-old Andrew Shinault.
The pair had been rubbing the gun along each other’s chests, with Shinault claiming Williams ‘must have’ flipped the safety catch off.
Shinault was charged with manslaughter.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.