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SANTA ANA, Calif. 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.
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, Law Officer reported.
Man Props Up Dead Wife for Christmas Is Convicted
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Man Props Up Dead Wife for Christmas Is Convicted
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A man who videotaped his stepchildren opening Christmas presents with their dead mother propped up on the couch was convicted Wednesday of beating her to death at their apartment in Anaheim.
William Wallace, 39, who is scheduled to be sentenced June 4, was convicted of second-degree murder for the Christmas Day 2011 death of 26-year-old Zazell Preston. Jurors began deliberating Tuesday and reached a verdict the next morning.
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The victim s 3- and 8-year-old daughters from a prior relationship and the couple s 7-week old baby were in the apartment at the time their mother died.