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Actor Michael Jace, best known for his role on the show The Shield, was convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting death of his wife, April. According to City News Service, Jace faces up to 40 years to life in prison.The matter of Jace's role in his wife's death is not in question. Jace was arrested two years ago after calling 9-1-1 and telling police, "I shot my wife." He even texted his father-in-law, "Come get the boys. I shot April."
Jace shot his wife twice in the legs and once in the back. The couple's sons, who were 8- and 5-years-old at the time, both witnessed the shooting. The elder son, now 10, testified last week that he heard his father tell his mother before the shooting, "If you like running, then run to heaven." April Jace was an avid runner.
"This case is not about how it was done. We acknowledge it. We accept responsibility," Jace's attorney Jamon Hicks said during his opening argument, according to the AP. "This case is about why it was done."
Jace's attorney says that Jace only intended to wound his wife, and pushed for a voluntary manslaughter charge. "I was just angry," Michael Jace told detectives, according to a transcript released during the trial. "All I intended to do was shoot her in the leg. And then I shot her in the leg, and that was it." Jace's wife had asked for a divorce that same day.
Prosecutors, however, said the killing was premeditated. "You will hear that on May 19, 2014, the defendant took a loaded gun, a revolver, and waited for his wife to come home and then shot her in the back and then shot her two more times in front of their kids," Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef said in the prosecution's opening statements.
Jace will be sentenced on June 10.
The actor is best known for his role as LAPD officer Julien Lowe on The Shield, and also appeared in Forrest Gump and Boogie Nights.
