Prosecutor Colleen Barnett said Melgar was motivated to kill her husband and stage a break-in for a $500,000 life insurance policy.
She also said Melgar’s religious beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness made her look for a way to get out of the marriage without a divorce, which would have left her ostracized.
Because a church friend testified that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe dead people are “sleeping” until the Apocalypse, Barnett said Melgar may have taken her husband’s death lightly.