SANTA ANA
Trial began Monday in Orange County Superior Court for a woman and her son charged with murder in the slaying of her cancer-stricken husband 11 years ago, allegedly to avoid paying for medical treatment and to profit from his life insurance and estate.
Sandra Jessee, 58, and her son from a previous marriage, Thomas Dayton Aehlert, 39, are accused of paying two men $50,000 to have Jack Jessee killed in the couple’s Placentia home.
Jack Jessee, 56, was stabbed repeatedly on the night of Aug. 13, 1998.
Sandra Jessee sold their home, collected her husband’s retirement savings and a life insurance settlement and moved to Arizona, where Aehlert lived, authorities said. Investigators said she collected more than $650,000.
New information in the case surfaced in 2005 and investigators say it allowed them to link the suspects in the case.
If convicted, each faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
-- Mike Anton
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