Former The Shield actor Michael Jace was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for the 2014 murder of his wife April Jace in Los Angeles on Friday, the Associated Press reports.
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To our surprise, Jace joins a long (and disturbing) list of stars with sketchy pasts including arson, assault and murder.
Prosecutors said that Jace shot his wife three times at the couple’s Hyde Park home, twice in the legs and once in the back, with their two young sons present.
Jace continued, “Second-degree versus manslaughter, it doesn’t matter, neither verdict brings her back”.
Soon after the attack, Jace told detectives that he had retrieved the gun to kill himself but couldn’t go through with it. Instead, he planned to shoot his wife, an avid runner, in the leg so she would feel pain, Jace said in a recorded interview.
‘I am profoundly sorry for the pain that I’ve caused everyone’.
“My first thought on my mind most mornings is, ‘Your daughter has been murdered, ‘” April Jace’s mother Kay Henry told the court in tears, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“I was just angry”, Jace said. “All I meant to do was to shoot her in the leg”, not kill her.
He said it was important that her family know that he didn’t commit first-degree murder.
His attorney told jurors that he had acted in the heat of passion. He faces between 40 years and life in prison.
‘Who is going to argue that this was not an intent to kill?’ Mokayef said. The final shots were delivered in a hallway of the couple’s home, within sight of their sons, who were aged 8 and 5 at the time.
“Then my dad said, ‘If you like running, run to heaven, ‘ and then he shot her”, the boy told the jury.
“Defendant Jace is a volatile individual who displays unpredictable and irrational rage and he is prone to violence”, said a statement from the prosecution that must be be considered in any future parole hearing.
‘And he’s right, ‘ she added.
Jace is best known for his role as Los Angeles police officer Julien Lowe in “The Shield“.
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Jace also appeared in a number of movies including The Great White Hype, Forrest Gump, The Fan, State Of Play and Strange Days.
