Minnesota Man Gets Life for Killing Wife

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his wife and attempting to make it look like a suicide.

A jury convicted 44-year-old Stephen Allwine of first-degree premeditated murder Wednesday in the 2017 death of Amy Allwine. He was sentenced to life without parole Friday after maintaining his innocence to Washington County District Judge William Ekstrum.

Stephen Allwine had told police he arrived home to find his wife dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. But investigators found inconsistencies with the suicide scenario, and discovered he had tried to hire a hit man on the dark web.

Prosecutors say Allwine wanted to collect on his wife's $700,000 life insurance policy.

The judge called him a "cold and calculating killer."