Los Altos woman was sane when she stabbed her husband at work, jury decides

June 12--A Los Altos woman was sane when she stabbed her estranged husband while wearing bubble wrap, a San Mateo County Superior Court jury concluded Wednesday.

The same jury on June 3 convicted Laura Jean Wenke, 53, of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a stun gun and domestic violence. She now faces 17 years to life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 1, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Prosecutors said Wenke and her husband were going through a bitter divorce and custody battle and she wanted him dead so she could collect on his $2 million life insurance policy.

Her defense team argued that Wenke suffered from mental illness, including a dissociative stress disorder that left her disconnected from her actions on the night of Sept. 15, 2011. That's when she went to the couple's construction business in Redwood City dressed in a mechanics jumpsuit with bubble wrap underneath, shot Randy Wenke with a stun gun and stabbed him several times in the neck and chest.

Two psychiatrists and one a psychologist testified about Wenke's mental instability during a hearing to determine whether she was insane when she committed the crime, said one of her defense attorneys, Geoff Carr. He called Wenke "a very fragile person."

Wagstaffe said he believes the jury got it right in finding Wenke sane.

"We are pleased the jury saw through the psychiatric defense presented by Ms. Wenke and held her appropriately accountable for the attempt to murder her husband," he wrote in an email Wednesday.

Email Bonnie Eslinger at [email protected]; follow her at twitter.com/ bonnieeslinger.

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