A New Jersey lady who shot and murdered her violent husband on Christmas Day in 2022 was sentenced to many years in prison, the Garden State court system revealed this week.
Marylue Wigglesworth, 53, accepted a plea agreement in early June for one count of manslaughter in the second degree in the December 25, 2022, killing of David B. Wigglesworth, 53, a union member, Republican Party activist, and former Mercer County local office candidate.
On Tuesday, she received a six-year term in state jail. The No Early Release Act requires her to spend a little over five years and one month before becoming eligible for parole.
In New Jersey, second-degree manslaughter has a minimum penalty of five years. Despite being sentenced more than the minimum, Wigglesworth reached an agreement with the prosecution that neither party would argue for more or less than six years. Perhaps more crucially, she escaped the uncertainty of a trial in which she was likely to face a first-degree murder accusation.
Wigglesworth’s defense counsel told Law&Crime that she will also receive credit for the significant period she spent in pre-trial prison.
But there was never any dispute — or disagreement — that Wigglesworth pulled the gun.
The now-condemned lady has repeatedly stated that she “feared for her life” when she killed her husband on the night in question, claiming she acted in self-defense. She was first charged with cold-blooded murder, and her defense attorney long claimed she was “overcharged” by overzealous prosecutors.
In January 2023, Atlantic County Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy told the higher court that David Wigglesworth was “naked and in bed with the TV on” when he was shot and murdered by his wife, describing the incident as a deliberate act of cruelty.
In response, defense attorney Melissa Rosenblum claimed that her client was abused by her husband that night, resulting in bruises and injuries to her arm and body and that police had suppressed critical evidence from the defense for a long time.
“What the state did not do and did not present your honor, is that when she did talk to the police, she admitted that she shot him,” claimed the attorney’s office. “She informed the authorities at least six times that there was a brawl and an altercation. They never took photographs of her that night to see what her injuries or bruises were, and I haven’t gotten them, your honor.
Judge Patricia M. Wild of Atlantic County Superior Court denied the defendant bail twice, citing the “severity” of the charges and the “presumption of detention” that governs how violent crimes are handled in New Jersey — despite the court’s initial bail denial being methodically overturned by an appeals court in February 2023.
In New Jersey, criminal justice reform substantially removed the use of a cash bail system in 2017, while monetary bail can still be utilized in unusual cases. Pretrial release is presumed for less serious criminal accusations. For more severe offenses, such as murder, there is a presumption of custody.
On Valentine’s Day 2023, Marylue Wigglesworth was denied bail again, with the court accepting the police enforcement narrative of when and how the shooting occurred, including the accusation that the woman’s husband was “lying in bed naked” when he was slain.
When the defendant heard the narrative of the night’s events, she aggressively shook her head in dissent before dropping it in evident sadness, her hair falling in front of her face as she sat motionless after learning she would remain in pretrial custody.
Since accepting the plea agreement, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s knowledge of the killing night has considerably coincided with the woman’s account of events.
“During the plea, the defendant stated that she and her husband argued before the shooting,” according to a news statement issued Wednesday. “The victim, David, physically beat the defendant and threatened her with the pistol he kept in their bedroom.
Following the threat, the defendant shot the victim with the same pistol used in the attack. Officers investigating the crime discovered extensive bruises on the defendant’s body after the killing, which is consistent with being the victim of an attack.”
Marylue Wigglesworth’s attorney told Law&Crime that she did not believe her client would have been convicted of murder had the case gone to trial. Rosenblum went on to say that intimate partner violence, previously known as “battered woman syndrome,” is an “imperfect” kind of self-defense.