Charles Wilkinson stands with his attorney during his sentencing on July 29.Albany Times UnionBALLSTON SPA, NY — A former New York police officer who pleaded guilty to strangling his wife of four decades during a fight over money has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office says 69-year-old Charles Wilkinson pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in the May 2014 death of his wife, Kathleen.
A family member told Wilkinson during his sentencing Wednesday that his children “will live with the knowledge that you took the last breath from their mother.”
Kathleen Wilkinson was found dead by authorities on the couple’s bedroom floor two days after she was killed inside their home in Malta.
Prosecutors say Wilkinson admitted strangling his wife during an argument over finances.
Wilkinson retired as a patrol office from the Nassau County Police Department around 1984.
