An octogenarian Nebraska woman has been ordered to serve a decade in jail for last year’s killing of her abusive husband of 50 years.
Lavetta Langdon shot her husband while he slept in August 2020 and confessed to decades of abuse that unfolded in front of her four daughters.
Doctors testified on the 80-year-old’s behalf confirming the abuse and even her brother-in-law, who described his late sibling as a “monster.”
“I know what my brother was like and he was not a nice person. He had a dual personality. He had a public personality and he would make people believe he was high, mighty and a great person,” Eugene Langdon said.
“You take him back home and he was the monster you all hear about in your closets. I feel like when you live through years of hell, which Lavetta did, it is very heartbreaking for her to go through more years of hell.”
On July 12, Red Willow County Court Judge Urbom felt sorry for Lavetta’s case but still handed over the 8 to 10 years with parole possibility after four years.
“I have to consider what is fair to you, protect the public and rehabilitate you. I have to consider many factors: age, criminal history, education, etc.” the judge told the elderly defendant.
“Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum of 20 years. There is no question that you, Lavetta, suffer from battery woman’s syndrome. No question that you lived in hell, but my review of reports and security camera footage sees the murder unjustified.”
He concluded: “Your attorney argued domestic violence. The bottom line, you killed a man in cold blood. There is no way I can put you on probation. No one deserved to be murdered. Any less of a sentence I would impose would not be good.”
