Kevin West hears he is guilty of first-degree murder in his wife's death in Washington state (Law&Crime).
A firefighter strangled his wife to death and tried to blame her demise on a seizure — all in a failed ruse to leave her for his mistress who prosecutors said he was obsessed with.
Kevin West, 52, was convicted Tuesday by a jury of first-degree murder in the death of 48-year-old Marcelle "Marcy" West in Washington state. The defendant contacted 911 in the early morning hours of Jan. 8, 2024, to say his wife was having a "seizure."
The Washougal Police Department and Kevin West's own colleagues at the Camas-Washougal Fire Department responded at 4:27 a.m. and released the body to a funeral home after initial autopsy findings were inconclusive.
In the following days, several people reached out to authorities with concerns about the couple's relationship — namely that the defendant was having an affair. They feared Marcelle West did not die a natural death.
The second autopsy found trauma to her neck, deputies said. She died of asphyxia with blunt trauma to her neck. The manner of death was homicide.
Police passed the case to their Clark County Sheriff's Office counterparts in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Detectives uncovered a marriage on the rocks along with financial troubles. They also discovered incriminating text messages on Kevin West's phone, including some he sent to his mistress's mother that said he planned to divorce his wife on the day of the murder.
"I want you to know how spiritually connected we are," he wrote to the mother. "I absolutely ache for her wishing tomorrow would come."
Cops also recovered a Christmas card to his mistress tucked away in his garage.
"2024 will be our year," he wrote. "Our story will ring in the New Year, loud for all to hear. I love you."
But there were problems with filing for divorce. If the Wests were to separate, he would have to pay her $4,500 a month in alimony, money he didn't have.
Kevin West took the stand in his own defense and denied killing his wife. They wed in 2002. He met his mistress, who worked at the fire station as a volunteer, about two years later and they had a monthslong affair before they lost touch. He tried to find her on social media over the years but it wasn't until July 2023 that they reconnected. Their affair rekindled shortly thereafter.
The defendant testified in the months leading up to the death that his wife had been experiencing a growing list of health problems, including migraines. He claimed that on the night before her demise, the two had a pleasant evening watching movies and eating Chinese food before they went to bed around 11 p.m.
His Apple Health data, however, showed he was far more active than he claimed. It said he took some 1,000 steps in bursts until 4 a.m.
Senior prosecutor Jessica E. Smith said the motive for the murder was "glaringly obvious."
"To call it an affair is a little bit of an understatement — it was an obsession," Smith said during closing arguments.
The jury only took about two hours to come back with a guilty verdict. After the verdict was read, Kevin West collapsed into his sister's arms in tears.
He's set to be sentenced on Feb. 27.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report
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