OC man sentenced to 15 years in wife's murder

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- An Orange County man received a 15-year sentence on Friday for the brutal murder of his wife.

The former community college worker was found guilty of beating his wife, Marcia, to death after the two got into a fight in February 2010. Forsberg dismembered his wife's body, and then burned her remains at camp ground in Ventura County.

Marcia was a woman who clearly left a mark with those who knew her.

"My wish for Rick's sentencing would be that he would be put away for a very long time, and that the memory of him would be obliterated. Let him become the non-person he tried to make of Marcia," said Marcia's friend, Joanne Hanik.

Forsberg sat quietly as one friend after the next talked about the impact Marcia had on them. The 60-year -old was battling cancer, which took a toll on the couple's 39-year marriage.

Prosecutors tried to convince the jury it was first-degree murder, but in the end settled for second-degree, sparing Forsberg from the death penalty.

Calvin Schneider, Forsberg's attorney, tried to point out during sentencing that his client did, in the end, confess to the killing, and that he had helped another inmate get into a drug rehab program.

The argument did little to sway the judge, who sentenced the 64-year-old Forsberg to 15 years to life for the brutal crime, the maximum allowed for the second-degree murder conviction.

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missing person, court case, murder, sentencing, orange county news, john gregory

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