MISSOURI CITY, Texas – A Missouri City man was sentenced Thursday to 85 years in prison when he was found guilty for fatally shooting his wife in the head two years ago.
The shooting happened in their Missouri City home on March 11, 2015 at about 11:26 p.m.
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According to Chief Family Violence Prosecutor Amanda Bolin, Daniel Politte, 32, called 911 on the night of the shooting and told dispatchers that his wife was vomiting blood. Officers with the Missouri City Police said he never mentioned during the 15-minute phone call that his wife had been shot.
Police said when paramedics arrived, they found Politte's wife, Stephanie Politte, 29, had suffered a gunshot wound to the back of her head. They also found a Ruger SP101 revolver a few feet away from her body.
Paramedics pronounced her dead on the scene.
Daniel claimed that his wife threatened several times to kill herself, and the shooting had occurred accidentally when he had tried to remove the weapon from her possession, police said.
Medical examiners said that Stephanie had died from a single gunshot wound that had to have been inflicted from at least 12-15 inches away from her head. Medical examiners also said Stephanie’s left cheek had been pressed against a pillow during the shooting.
Investigators said they discovered a photo in Daniel Politte's phone of Stephanie sleeping. The photo had been in taken at 11:04 p.m., right before her death.
Montgomery County Sheriff's office Investigator Celestina Rossi said she believed Stephanie had possibly been sleeping while facing away from the shooter when she was shot.
Daniel Politte was arrested by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's office and charged with murder.
When he posted bail, during trial, investigators said he had a new girlfriend. He claimed they had met while charges were pending, but investigators showed evidence of text messages being exchanged with the woman during the night of Politte's shooting.
The jury found Daniel to be guilty in the murder of his wife.
“We weren’t saying the defendant was guilty because he was lying. He was lying because he was guilty,” argued lead prosecutor Amanda Bolin at trial. “But the evidence doesn’t lie and it doesn’t forget,” Bolin continued. “And with an extremely attentive jury in this case, justice was swiftly delivered in both phases of trial.”