Man, 81, gets prison for killing wife

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NORRISTOWN, Pa., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- An elderly Philadelphia-area man who admitted killing his wife of more than 50 years has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for third-degree murder.

Paul Koos, 81, of Souderton cried but did not speak during a sentencing hearing Tuesday in Montgomery County, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

He entered a guilty plea in May.

Koos called police immediately after strangling his wife Waltraud, 75, on Jan. 6. He said he got angry when his wife came back from a walk, accused her of cheating on him and then grabbed her when she laughed, strangling her.

He reportedly told police his wife had an affair not long after they married, and he had been suspicious of her ever since.

Assistant District Attorney Bradford Richman said there appeared to be no medical reason for Koos's burst of violence, and doctors found no sign of dementia.

"So what we're left with is the realization that the capacity to act uncharacteristically violent may lie within all of us, and that's what's troubling about the case," Richman said.