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Colorado man convicted in strangulation death of wife recorded on a surveillance camera

Posted at 5:44 AM, Dec 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-20 07:45:49-05

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A jury has convicted a 49-year-old Colorado man of second-degree murder after he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the strangulation death of his wife that was recorded on a surveillance camera’s audio.

Scott B. Jones was convicted of murder Wednesday in the death of 44-year-old Deborah De Pinto in June 2018 at a mobile home park office just outside Boulder, the Daily Camera reports.

Prosecutors charged Jones with first-degree murder that would have carried a mandatory life sentence in prison without parole but the jury determined there was not enough evidence to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

READ MORE: Man accused of killing wife in Colorado pleads not guilty

Jones was also found guilty of child abuse for bringing his then 11-year-old son in to the room to see his dead mother for what prosecutors say was an attempt to get away with the murder, prosecutors said.

Surveillance footage shows Jones and De Pinto entering the office arguing and gesturing angrily before the audio picked up the two arguing, a female screaming and sounds of a physical struggle, authorities said.

Jones faces up to 48 years in prison. He has been held at Boulder County Jail since his arrest last year.