A 79-year-old New Jersey physicist was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he fired a hollow-point bullet into his wife’s head from point-blank range.
“The investigation revealed that the defendant shot his wife Lilia Jacobs, 71, in the head resulting in her death,” Bergen County prosecutors said in a statement Friday. “Jacobs admitted discharging a loaded .380 Beretta, which caused her death.”
Alexander Jacobs, of East Hanover, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in connection to the March 2020 death of his wife of 30 years, according to NorthJersey.com. Jacobs has remained in jail since the killing and will be credited for time served. He was initially charged with murder.
East Hanover Township were called to the Jacobs’ home after the victim was killed. Jacobs defense team reportedly claimed he believed his wife had dementia and was trying to pressure her into getting help.
Their family said the victim was never diagnosed with dementia, but did crash her car into a dry cleaner’s shop several months before her death, which furthered concern for her well-being.
Jacobs told his daughter, the victim’s stepdaughter, to call the police on the afternoon he shot his wife.
Jacobs, whose defense attorneys argued the killing wasn’t intentional, expressed remorse during his sentencing.
“I accept responsibility,” Jacobs told the court.
Prior to the shooting, Jacobs, who had no criminal history, worked for nearly a decade as a senior physicist in the oncology department at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
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