Ex-officer sentenced to life for wife's murder

HOLLAND, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - In January, one of Lori DeKleine's children found her body in the basement of their home.

Initially police thought it was a suicide. Autopsy results proved otherwise.

They arrested her husband, Ken DeKleine the next day. The couple was in the process of getting a divorce.

In July a jury convicted him of murder. Monday, Ken DeKleine was back in court to hear his sentence, and hear from his victim's family.

Three very difficult statements were made by victims addressing Ken DeKleine. The convicted murderer is now going to prison for the rest of his life. There wasn't much mystery as to what would happen Monday. DeKleine got a mandatory sentence of life in prison for killing his wife Lori.

The trial was very one-sided. Little if any defense was presented. There was an enormous amount of physical evidence introduced, including the fact that Ken DeKleine's blood was found on Lori's clothes. Perhaps the most convincing evidence was that DeKleine admitted to the crime numerous times in chats and letters with family members, friends and even detectives.

This was an especially difficult trial because DeKleine served the community as a police officer and also had served in the military. Family members say they still don't understand it.

"The pain and despair I feel are beyond words. I don't understand how someone I once cared about was actually that evil and planned and brutally killed my sister cause he thought his kids would be better off," said Patti Ticknor, Lori's sister.

Despite what was said in court, DeKleine wrote in a letter shortly after the crime that it was quote "best for everybody" that she be dead for the sake of the family's two teenage children.