Navy Medic Who Killed Wife Gets Life in Prison

A Navy medic who killed his wife and tried to cover up her death was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole.

Petty Officer 2nd Class David Tate also was demoted to the Navy’s lowest rank and dishonorably discharged by a court-martial at Camp Pendleton.

The 11-year veteran, who had been having an affair with a fellow medic, was found guilty in May of premeditated murder, adultery, conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements and sodomy.

Tate, 30, had reported his wife, Cynthia, missing in February 1999. He showed authorities a note saying she had gone to Las Vegas with friends to see a prizefight.

Naval Criminal Investigation Services said they doubted Tate’s story but had no body or witnesses to give them leads.

In July, detectives tried an unusual tactic to break the case. They staged a prayer vigil with Navy chaplains, hoping Tate would be compelled to talk. Tate, of Colorado Springs, Colo., confessed to the murder a few days later.

He told authorities that he got into a shoving match with his wife on the night of Feb. 13, 1999. He admitted shooting her in the back of the neck and dumping her body in a sewage runoff ditch on base.

Investigators also discovered that Tate had been having an affair with a colleague, Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrea Bart.

Bart, of Midlothian, Va., testified during the sentencing hearing that Tate would talk about beating or strangling his wife.

Bart has admitted concealing the affair but denied any involvement in the murder. She is serving two years in prison as part of a plea bargain.