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Sam Penrod ReportingA judge late this afternoon ordered a Provo man to serve prison time for trying twice to kill his wife.
Paul Turner confessed to police last fall he wanted his wife dead to hide his obsession with pornography. The judge sentenced Paul Turner to a one to fifteen year term in prison after hearing testimony from Turner's now ex-wife who spoke to the court before the sentence was handed down.
Sarah Turner said she had trusted her former husband and knew him as a good person. But she said the "poor choices and terrible things" Paul had done deserved punishment, adding it should include treatment and therapy.
Sarah Turner also said: "I am not angry and I have forgiven him."
A soft-spoken Paul Turner told the judge he was sorry for his actions and asked for acceptance by those he had harmed.
Jeff Buhman, Prosecutor: "He attempted not just twice but actually four times, to take the life of his wife and child and if we would have been successful, this would have been a death penalty case."
This case centered around Turner's confession to Provo police last October that he had tried to kill his wife by putting rat poison in cookies he baked for her, and in another attempt exchanged medication in a syringe with a fish tank cleaning solution.
Turner's former wife previously testified she had no idea her husband wanted to kill her. At the time of the murder attempts Sarah Turner was expecting the couple's first child, which also suffered no ill effects.
The judge did give Turner credit for 257 days he has been in jail. It will ultimately be up to the State Board of Pardons on how long Paul Turner will be in Prison.
