A Florida man has been convicted of murdering his wife after she refused to appear on a TV show about home renovations.
The jury found that David Tronnes beat and strangled his wife, Shanti Cooper Tronnes, to death in 2018, the local state's attorney's office said in a statement.
Trones had spent thousands of dollars renovating the couple's home in hopes of appearing on “Zombie House Flipping,” a reality TV show in which participants flip rundown properties.
According to the office, the high cost of renovations was having a negative impact on the couple's marriage.
According to the Guardian, the couple had met with the show's producers a few days before her death, but Cooper-Trons suddenly walked out of the meeting.
During the renovation, Tronnes stayed in the garage and his wife slept in a one-room studio on the property.
Evidence presented at trial showed Cooper-Tronnes was killed in her bedroom and that Tronnes had been trying to clean up before police arrived.
He later claimed he found her body in the bathtub, but according to a statement from the local state attorney's office, the coroner said the evidence did not support this claim.
Orlando police investigators observed that Tronnes showed little remorse during questioning and did not shed any tears over his wife's death, prosecutors said.
Tronnes was sentenced to life in prison after a six-day trial, the office said.
Jackson Cooper, Ms. Cooper-Trons' son from a previous relationship, said at a press conference that the verdict felt like “five years of anguish and pain have been lifted off my shoulders.”
“I'm happy in my heart that he's finally where he is,” Cooper said. “We can move forward knowing he's where he should be.”