Florida man guilty of murdering wife who refused to go on home reno show: prosecutors

globalnews.ca:

A Florida court has found David Tronnes guilty of murdering his wife Shanti Cooper-Tronnes after their marriage broke down over a contentious home renovation, prosecutors say.

Cooper-Tronnes was found beaten and strangled in the couple’s home in Orlando on April 24, 2018. After a few months of investigation, Tronnes was arrested for her murder.

At Tronnes’ trial, which concluded Wednesday, the jury deliberated for five hours before handing down a guilty verdict. He was sentenced to life in prison, according to a statement from the State Attorney Office of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida.

Tronnes and his wife had spent considerable time and money renovating their home, which led to them “experiencing problems in their marriage,” prosecutors write. At the time of Cooper-Tronnes’ death, the pair was sleeping separately while the renos were ongoing: Cooper-Tronnes in a one-bedroom studio within the home and Tronnes in the garage.

Tronnes wanted the couple to appear on the reality TV show Zombie House Renovations. When his wife refused to appear on the show, it “upset Tronnes to the point that it led to her murder,” prosecutors say.

On the day of his wife’s death, Tronnes said he was occupied cleaning the house and walking his dogs. He told investigators he returned home from the park and found his wife dead, floating in the bathtub with her pyjamas on.

During police questioning, he suggested that his wife slipped and fell or collapsed.

“The medical examiner testified that facial injuries, blood evidence and bruises on the victim’s eyes told a different story,” prosecutors write.

According to a CBS report, police noted at the time that the bathtub was dry and there was no water on the floor when they arrived.