Man accused of killing wife over dirty dishes to be sentenced
A Greene County man found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in May for shooting his 17-year-old wife in the head after she ignored his requests to wash some dirty dishes in their Graysville home last July will be sentenced July 13. A Common Pleas Court jury also found James Russell Petrie, 28, guilty of two counts of aggravated and recklessly endangering another person in the death of Jessica Kathleen Marie Petrie.
The jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder, third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Voluntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, carries a maximum sentence of 20 year in prison, according to Greene County District Attorney Marjorie Fox.
One of the aggravated assault charges carries the same maximum sentence and the second has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Recklessly endangering another person is a misdemeanor.
President Judge H. Terry Grimes, who presided over the trial, will sentence Petrie at a hearing scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
State police arrested Petrie following the July 7, 2005, shooting inside a mobile home the couple rented. They had been married for a little more than 14 months when the incident occurred. Jessica was 16 when the couple married.
She survived a bout with cancer that resulted in surgery to remove her kidney and adrenal gland when she was 4 years old. Part of a lung was removed following a relapse a year or two later, her mother, Wendy Morris, said.
Jessica was a student at West Greene High School at the time of the incident and wanted to be a cancer doctor, her mother said.
Petrie, who testified in his own defense, said he pointed a .22-caliber rifle at Jessica, threatened her and then pulled the trigger.
He claimed he did not know the gun was loaded and disputed testimony from Jessica’s father and cousin, who said they saw one bullet in the magazine the day before shooting.
Petrie said he asked Jessica to wash some dishes the day before the incident because he wanted to pour the dishwater in the yard to attract worms for fishing bait.
He also said he wanted to pack the dishes away because they were moving.
Petrie said he discovered the dishes hadn’t been washed when he woke up on July 7 and again asked Jessica to wash them when she woke up.
After she ignored him and sat down to watch TV, Petrie said he “hovered” over her and tried to kiss he to get her attention, but she continued to ignore him.
He said he picked up the rifle, which was in the living room, pointed it at her and said, “I should just shoot you” before pulling the trigger.
Petrie also admitted to lying to state police investigators when he told them that he worked the bolt action on the rifle three times to make sure it was not loaded before he pulled the trigger.