Merced man faces 16 years to life for wife's murder

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Merced man who killed his school teacher wife -- pleaded no contest to second degree murder.

                  |   Watch Video Above for Extended Coverage   |

Rodolfo "Rudy" Romero is now facing 16 years to life in prison. He stabbed his wife, Diane, to death in September of 2010. Police found her body in the couple's backyard swimming pool. Diane was a well-known elementary school teacher, and her death shocked the community.

Attorneys for both sides say they wanted to spare family members a potentially painful trial.

"I'm just hoping that it helps them get some closure," Rob Carroll said. "There's never any perfect ending to this, but I think it's a good legal resolution."

Jeffrey Tennenbaum said, "He didn't want to cause his sons any more pain, he wanted to take responsibility for the charges."

Romero is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

Get more Local »

stabbing, murder, crimetracker, merced, merced county, local, sara sandrik

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•