Respectfully SBM...
Maybe I'm misunderstanding but this describes a crime of passion to me.
It seems to.
I discovered yesterday that crimes of passion can't be based on a previous conflict. I'd say that CM and SM's entire relationship over the last few months was one ongoing conflict.
I think a better example of a crime of passion would be if a wife came home and caught her husband cheating, then pulled a gun out of her purse and shot him.
If he just found out she was with someone else it would suffice even if they had conflicts over other things as well. This is a good explanation in general about the law as it applies in TX:
https://brettpodolsky.com/general-law/crimes-of-passion-the-definition-history-and-laws
I think our anger over the devastation that results from crimes like this typically leads to a desire for the strongest sentences or charges. But it's not always appropriate. A person lying in wait and meticulously planning is more cold-blooded and calculating than one who flies into a rage and attacks. I'm not sure which one is at play here but it does seem that if it was premeditated it might have been better planned.
That being said, the sheriff's comments rub me the wrong way. From what I've seen thus far this man was possessive and threatening. He didn't punch her in the face causing her to hit her head and die. He strangled her for minutes while their kids lay in bed or wherever.
After the fact he seemed to recover quite quickly from whatever "rage" he was in and began to cover his tracks. His posting of several updates on his wife being missing, on his facebook, is particularly atrocious. He knew she was dead and tried to act like a worried husband. He wasn't wailing in remorse and immediately confessing. He carefully hid her car and disposed of her body and did it in a way as to make her seem like the type who meets at motels for sex.
So he had the wherewithal to plan all that out.
If not carefully planned, I don't get things like this. What kind of weirdos are so out of control with their emotions that they can spend long minutes strangling a struggling ex to death with their bare hands, over jealousy and anger? Unless he came home and found a predator harming a loved one, or another similar situation, I don't believe a normal person can be "provoked" to commit murder or assault. This type of person has had anger and control and domination issues previously. I don't think a nice man is capable of this.
I believe this guy had a fragile ego and was abusive in some form toward his spouse. He couldn't allow her to leave him and became increasingly more enraged and desperate to control her and then to punish her.
He is a danger to society and needs to be locked up for decades at a minimum. I don't like the sheriff's sympathetic tone and comments that almost seem to blame the victim. I hope that's just tactic to keep him cooperating. I don't know.
Whoever said he thought it was a phase is spot on with my opinion.
