Man gets life in prison for stabbing wife to death in July

A Sedgwick County judge has ordered a Wichita man to serve life in prison for stabbing his wife to death in the couple’s home in July.

Larry Andres, 63, pleaded no contest in August to one count of first-degree premeditated murder in the killing of Marilyn Andres. Prosecutors say Larry Andres beat Marilyn, including inflicting injuries to her face, during an argument, then decided to stab her in the chest at least six times as she lay in bed on July 24.

The reason they say Andres gave for turning a kitchen knife on her was that he “wanted to end her suffering.”

Andres called 911 and confessed not long after the stabbing occurred and waited on the porch at 1113 S. Martinson for police officers to arrive. It’s unclear whether Marilyn Andres was asleep at the time of the stabbing.

Andres will be eligible for parole in 2041. He’ll be 88 at that time.

District Judge Jeffrey Goering imposed the sentence recommended in Andres’ plea agreement.

During Andres’ sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon, emotions ran high. Several members of Marilyn’s family left the courtroom in tears or muttered expletives when Andres denied murdering his wife and instead suggested she inflicted the fatal injuries upon herself by hitting her head on a bathtub.

“I stabbed her, but I did not kill her,” Andres said, staring at the crowd in the courtroom gallery.

“I regret what I done,” he said. But, he said, “I won’t ask for forgiveness from nobody except for her.”

When it was the family’s turn to address the court, two of Marilyn’s sisters spoke.

Andres’ actions, they said, not only left them without a beloved sibling who enjoyed road trips, books, antique hunting and spending time with family.

They also robbed them of a confidant, a companion, the family’s historian and a friend.

“God have mercy on you. I can’t,” Carolyn Cottrell, one of the sisters, said. “... You cheated us all out of a wonderful person.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Man gets life in prison for stabbing wife to death in July."