Man Convicted of Killing Wife, Dragging Body

A 49-year-old Inglewood man was convicted Monday of killing his wife, tying her 190-pound body to his van because he couldn’t lift her, and dragging her through a residential area.

A Superior Court jury in Torrance convicted Jude Paulinus Nwandu of the first-degree murder of his wife Georgina, 38, during an argument at their home.

Nwandu faces a maximum of 29 years to life when he is sentenced Jan. 17, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lewin said.

Inglewood police Det. Craig Lawler said Nwandu had dragged the woman away from the house because she was too heavy. She was tied by the ankles to the back of the van with a telephone cord and rope, he said.

Court testimony indicated that the woman was “either dead or close to death” and unconscious when she was dragged, Lawler said. According to Lewin, Nwandu had hit her with a flashlight and choked her with his hands.

The killing happened about 11 p.m. on Sept. 12, 1996, in their apartment, Lawler said. Their five daughters, ages 1 through 12, were in the home.

Nwandu was unemployed, and his wife was working as a nurse.

Lawler said the oldest daughter testified that during the argument she heard gasping sounds. When she left her bedroom to check on her mother, she met Nwandu, who told her the mother was OK, and that she had just fallen. But the daughter saw her mother on the floor spitting up blood and saying, “I am dying,” according to Lawler.

He said Nwandu encountered Inglewood police as his van dragged the body. After a short pursuit, his van pulled over and backed over the body, which was then detached from the van. The van then sped away. After a three-mile chase, Nwandu was found hiding under another van.

Lewin said Nwandu, who did not testify, had argued that three assailants had killed his wife.