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A California man accused of killing his wife, and propping up her dead body on a sofa for her children as they opened Christmas presents in 2011, was convicted of murder Wednesday.
Defendant William Wallace, 39, was convicted of second-degree murder more than nine years after the death of his wife, 26-year-old Za’Zell Preston, the Orange County District Attorney s Office announced.
Wallace is scheduled to be sentenced in June and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
Authorities say he used blunt force trauma to the head of Preston to render her unconscious sometime between Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, 2011, the district attorney s office said. The victim’s daughters from a previous relationship, ages 3 and 8, and the couple’s 7-week-old son were in the apartment at the time, prosecutors said.
California man who propped dead wife up on Christmas as kids opened presents found guilty of her murder KATE FELDMAN
A California man who bashed his wife’s head in, then staged her body on the couch while her children opened their Christmas presents was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder.
William Wallace, 39, used “blunt force trauma” to knock Zazell Preston, 26, unconscious sometime between between Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, 2011, according to investigators.
On Christmas morning, Wallace then propped Preston’s body on the couch with sunglasses on and proceeded as normal.
“Mommy ruined Christmas, she got drunk and ruined Christmas,” he told the children, according to prosecutors.
Man who propped dead wife up for kids found guilty of murder nydailynews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nydailynews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
William Wallace allegedly killed his wife,
Za’Zell Preston, 26, on Christmas Eve 2011; which occurred during an argument. Preston and Wallace were reportedly in a violent relationship and he threatened to kill her on multiple occasions. The victim was reportedly studying to become a domestic violence counselor at the time.Â
During his trial on Monday, prosecutors claimed Wallace placed Preston’s dead body on the sofa with sunglasses on and told their children, “Mommy … got drunk and ruined Christmas,” the Mercury News reports. The children proceeded to open up their Christmas presents, unaware that their mother was dead. Per PEOPLE, Wallace’s two daughters were 8 and 3 years old at the time of the killing. The couple also shared a 7-week-old newborn.