From STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
FRESNO, Calif. -- Larissa Schuster was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing her estranged husband, Golden, Ill., native Timothy Schuster, by knocking him out and stuffing him into a vat of acid, possibly while he was still alive.
Schuster, 47, is a native of Clarence, Mo., and a former Clovis biochemist.
She was convicted in December by a Los Angeles County jury of killing her estranged husband and sealing his body in a barrel of acid in July 2003.
The jury convicted Schuster with the special circumstance that the murder was committed for financial gain. At the time, the Schusters were in the middle of a divorce after nearly 20 years of marriage.
Just days after Timothy Schuster was reported missing, his half-dissolved remains -- intact from only the belt buckle down -- were found inside a 55-gallon barrel concealed in a storage unit his wife had rented.
Seven people spoke at Schuster's sentencing hearing, among them Kristin Schuster, the couple's adult
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daughter, according to information supplied to The Herald-Whig by the Fresno Bee and Fresno-Visalia television station KSEE.
Kristin Schuster told her mother she no longer fears for her life now that Larissa Schuster will be behind bars for the rest of her life.
"I've been living for five years not knowing if I would have to worry for my own safety," Kristin Schuster said at the hearing.
"In your quest to become a dominating power freak, you became your own demon. You have hurt me for so many years and probably smiled inside, but look who's smiling now."
During the trial, Schuster admitted to helping hide her husband's body. She claimed a former employee, James Fagone, killed him.
Fagone admitted in testimony to helping with the murder, but said it was Schuster who actually planned and carried out the crime. Fagone was convicted on robbery and murder charges and is serving a life sentence. His case is on appeal.
The trial jury had the option of finding Schuster not guilty, guilty of first or second degree murder, or guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
Schuster faced a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The prosecution was not seeking the death penalty.
Following the two-month trial, Schuster's sentencing was repeatedly delayed while her attorney, Roger Nuttall, filed motions with the Fresno County Superior Court and the California Fifth District Court of Appeal asking for a new trial.
Judge Wayne Ellison rejected Nuttall's motion Friday morning for a new trial and handed down his sentence, capping off a drawn-out murder case that took almost five years to prosecute.
