Man gets life terms in 2020 slayings of wife, mother-in-law

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NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and mother-in law in a home near Philadelphia in which two small children were also present.

Frederick Clea, 59, was immediately sentenced Wednesday in Montgomery County to two consecutive life terms in prison without possibility of parole in the slayings of 41-year-old Latiya Clea and 74-year-old Mekenda Saunders in July 2020 in Cheltenham Township.

Judge Gary Silow, who convicted Clea after a nonjury trial, called his conduct “horrific and hard to believe."

Defense attorney Thomas Egan III had argued Tuesday that his client acted “in the heat of passion” and wasn't in his normal state of mind, whether through stress, pandemic lockdowns or lack of sleep. He argued for a conviction of voluntary manslaughter or at most third-degree murder.

Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Soreth, however, said the defendant “executed his wife and mother-in-law while his two children watched.”

Clea testified that he didn’t remember shooting the victims and apologized, saying they didn’t deserve what happened to them. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that he called his trial and conviction an “obstruction of justice,” blamed his actions on a “chemical imbalance," and said he plans to appeal.