COVINGTON, La. —
A Louisiana man was sentenced to life in prison for killing his estranged wife and her boyfriend Monday, a decade after his brother was convicted for a similar slaying.
In February, a St. Tammany Parish jury unanimously found that 39-year-old Jason Magee of Pearl River was guilty in the deaths of Jennifer Wallace Magee and Donald R. Gros. District Judge August Hand sentenced Magee Monday to two consecutive life sentences in prison.
Prosecutors say on June 19, 2017, Magee put his two children, ages 6 and 8, on the phone to wish their mother goodnight. When one of them asked to speak to Gros, Magee grew enraged.
Authorities say Magee dropped the children off at his parent's house before driving to his ex-wife's house, kicking down the door and shooting her and Gros with "military precision" in under two minutes.
Magee then confessed over the phone to his stepfather that he shot his ex-wife but then ran away. Pearl River police and U.S. Marshals later arrested him after he had emerged from the woods.
District Attorney Warren Montgomery says the jury rejected claims by Magee's lawyer's claims that he was acting in self-defense in a scuffle with Gros over a gun.
Magee's brother, James Magee, is currently on death row for killing his estranged wife and young son in 2007.
