Woman sentenced to life for 'luring' estranged husband to bank, fatally shooting him on Valentine’s Day
01/25/2023 11:53 am PST
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (TCD) -- A 30-year-old woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after "luring" her estranged 27-year-old husband to a PNC bank parking lot and fatally shooting him on Valentine’s Day in 2021.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. that day, officers from the Strasburg Police Department responded to the PNC Bank on North Decatur Street to a report of shots fired. There, the victim, Mitchell Bewley, had been shot five times in the torso, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
The Lancaster County Coroner reportedly determined that all five shots could have been fatal.
During the shooting, witnesses heard "one gunshot and then a rapid succession of gunfire," the District Attorney’s Office said.
Afterward, the victim’s estranged wife, Danielle Bewley, reportedly fled to her home on Locus Lane in Quarryville, where a standoff ensued with police. She was later taken into custody and transported to a local hospital.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Bewley FaceTimed a friend, revealing the gun "moments before the shooting." She had reportedly called other friends and family and admitted to shooting her estranged husband and said, "He got what he deserved."
During the trial, the District Attorney’s Office said Bewley’s "friend and Ring camera evidence revealed the defendant went to the friend’s house to pick up her firearm."
Additionally, testimony reportedly suggested that Bewley had threatened to kill her estranged husband in the past.
On Dec. 21, 2022, Bewley was convicted of first-degree murder following a five-day bench trial, and on Tuesday, Jan. 24, the District Attorney’s Office announced that she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In a statement, Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson said, "On Valentine’s Day of 2021, the defendant executed a plan and then executed the victim. She had it all planned out. It was specific premeditation. She was lying in wait for the victim to get there."
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