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OGDEN — An elderly Roy man who killed his ailing wife has been sentenced to prison.
Dennis Chamberlain, 74, wept as he apologized to his five children, spoke of his love for his wife, and told a judge he was prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison.
"I love my children and my grandchildren, I deeply miss them," Chamberlain said Thursday as he apologized to his family for killing their mother, 70-year-old Jean Chamberlain.
Police began investigating Chamberlain's February 2014 death, which had initially been ruled to be natural, when conflicting stories about her husband's whereabouts surfaced.
Detectives served search warrants of Chamberlain's computers and found search histories for methods on how to commit suicide, doctors signing death certificates, plus searches about certain medications, chemicals and poisons. Financial records showed Chamberlain bought a guide "on how to commit suicide without it being detected in an autopsy. This book could also be used as a guide to commit a homicide," Roy police stated.
Dennis Chamberlain accepted a plea deal in February, pleading guilty to attempted murder, a first-degree felony, in his wife's death. He was sentenced Thursday to three years to life in the Utah State Prison.
Prosecutors argued that Dennis Chamberlain killed his wife in their home, 3750 Midland Drive, because he saw her as a financial burden, not to spare her suffering.
I talk to my wife through her obituary and her pictures every day.
–Dennis Chamberlain
"This is not a right-to-die case, this is a case where the defendant, on his own, made a unilateral decision to end his wife's life," said deputy Weber County attorney Teral Tree.
Defense attorney Ron Yengich, however, has insisted that Dennis Chamberlain loved his wife, patting him on the back Thursday as he wept.
The Chamberlains' adult children spoke of stolen years as they addressed 2nd District Judge Joseph Bean. Their mother had been uncomplaining as she battled declining health, they said, and had asked to be moved to an assisted living center.
Dad just had to have all the control with our mother's care and believed she would rot there, so he decided to take matters into his own hands," said Sonya Balling, the couple's daughter. "Our situation is very unique in that we have lost both a mother and, in a sense, a father. We feel orphaned."
As his children spoke, Dennis Chamberlain, shackled and wearing a blue jail uniform, looked on. He emphasized that he loved his wife and has kept her obituary in jail with him.
"I talk to my wife through her obituary and her pictures every day," Chamberlain said. "I told her that I was so sorry for all of this and apologized to her, and I told her that I love her and I hope that I can be with her someday again."
