H.B. man sentenced to 26 years to life for murdering wife
A Huntington Beach man was sentenced Friday to 26 years to life in state prison for murdering his wife days before their first wedding anniversary.
Nelson Tuumamao Tuiolosega, 59, a former Orange County probation officer, was found guilty by an Orange County Superior Court jury on June 9 of first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement of using a knife, according to the county district attorney’s office.
On Oct. 29, 2012, Tuiolosega and his wife, Heather, 47, got into an argument at their Huntington Beach home about their marriage after she had told him days before that she wanted a divorce, according to the district attorney’s office.
Tuiolosega stabbed her several times in the neck, then called relatives to tell them he had committed a crime, prosecutors said. He then attempted suicide by stabbing himself in the abdomen, authorities said.
Tuiolosega was treated at a hospital for his injuries, but his wife was pronounced dead at the scene.
— Anthony Clark Carpio
Twitter: @acocarpio
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