Wife Killer Gets Sentenced to Life
A La Palma man convicted in August of murdering his estranged wife was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dennis Parmenter, 29, who shot his wife as she drove to work a year ago, also received an additional 10 years for the use of a firearm.
Parmenter, who Deputy Public Defender Bernadette Cemore said has a history of mental illness, fired several shots from his car as his wife drove on Beach Boulevard on Sept. 24, 1997. As her vehicle came to a stop, he got out of his car and shot her again, Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Kirkwood said. He surrendered to police later that day.
“It was just a vicious, thought-out crime,” Kirkwood said.
She said several relatives of the victim, Estela Parmenter, 37, were present during the hearing.
“It is the age-old tale,” the prosecutor said. “If he couldn’t have her, no one could have her.”
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