Man Sent to Prison in Strangling of Wife

A man who strangled his wife in their Canoga Park apartment and fled to Washington state was sentenced Tuesday in San Fernando Superior Court to 11 years in state prison.

Under a plea agreement, Gary Rubenstein, 32, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter March 3 for killing Mary Hennesy Rubinstein on Aug. 8, 1985, after they had argued.

Police discovered the victim’s body the day after the slaying after they received a phone call that Rubenstein had killed his wife and was moving to Washington, according to court documents.

Rubenstein was arrested April 24, 1987, in Washington after his new girlfriend, fearing for her safety, called police and reported that Rubenstein was a fugitive from California, the documents state.