FORT WORTH (November 27, 2012)—Patrick Edward Arnold, 69, who shot his estranged wife to death after he used a sledgehammer to break down the door of her home has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
A judge in Fort Worth on Monday accepted the plea agreement from Arnold, who pleaded guilty to murder in the June 10, 2010, attack on Linda Kay Arnold, 59, of Arlington.
Prosecutors say the Arnolds were going through a bitter divorce and he shot her while in the yard of the residence.
The shooting happened a day after the husband was ordered by a judge to pay spousal support and his wife's legal fees.
Arnold drove to a police station and surrendered following the shooting.
