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PROVO — A Salem man was sentenced Tuesday after being convicted of fatally shooting his wife last year.
Tracy Scott, 48, was sentenced in 4th District Court to 15 years to life in prison for murder, a first-degree felony.
On March 23, 2013, Scott made a 911 call and admitted to shooting his wife.
"She was going to take a picture of me, and it just went off," he said in the call.
When officers arrived at Scott's house, 445 E. 300 South, they heard a man outside yelling, "I just shot my wife. She's dead." He then went back inside and closed the door but was compliant when asked to come outside again.
Scott put his hands up, knelt down and got in a prone position. Officers later testified Scott was "crying uncontrollably" as they arrested him and that he told them, "I just snapped."
Inside the home, police found a pistol on the floor near the entrance. Teresa Scott, 45, was discovered sitting up in her bed, her crocheting or knitting still in her lap. A black safe in the room was open. Another gun lay at the foot of the bed, and shell casings were found nearby.
Scott had been shot three times, with a fatal round striking her in the chest, according to a medical examiner's report. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Prior to Tracy Scott's sentence, his attorneys argued for a conviction of manslaughter under extreme emotional distress rather than murder, saying Scott had acted under "a lot of stress and emotion," according to defense attorney Richard Gale.
A jury deliberated Scott's case for about eight hours before delivering the guilty verdict on Aug. 22.
