Cape Coral man gets life sentence for killing wife

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Cape Coral man convicted last month of killing his wife on their front lawn received a life sentence Monday.

Judge Frank Porter handed down the ruling against Michael Young, 52, who argued that he was temporarily insane because he was receiving testosterone injections when he murdered Sally Young in 2013.

Porter said the jury got it right when they rejected Young’s insanity defense and called the couple’s dispute a “sad situation” that could have been resolved through divorce.

Michael Young will be placed on a suicide watch while he’s in Lee County Jail until he’s transferred to prison, a standard procedure for those given life sentences.

Once the conviction was handed down, Michael Young’s attorney had pushed for a 25-year sentence rather than life, arguing that his father abused him as a child and that the abuse contributed to the murder. Michael Young was never violent to his wife, attorney Ed Kelly argued.

“I know the medication I was on allowed me to act like that, otherwise I never would have done it,” Michael Young said in court Monday. “I know in my heart, that medication caused me to step over a line I never would have crossed anyway.”

Sally Young’s brother, Jeff Schouthies, lauded the ruling and spoke about his sister’s legacy. Michael Young was convicted Aug. 18, Sally Young’s birthday.

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