An Arkansas resident, who attempted to pin the tragic blaze that resulted in his wife’s demise on poor electrical wiring, is now facing decades of incarceration after confessing to murder charges.

Bruce Lee Cockrell, 48, was handed a 75-year prison sentence on Thursday following his guilty plea to charges of murder and arson related to the 2024 death of his 35-year-old wife, Tonya Marie Liggin-Cockrell. Court documents accessed by Law&Crime reveal that after a heated dispute on July 8, 2024, Cockrell doused his wife with “weed eater gas.” Initially, when emergency teams arrived, Cockrell claimed the fire stemmed from defective “electrical work.”

However, Liggin-Cockrell, despite being engulfed in flames, managed to inform law enforcement of the true events.

Upon the arrival of first responders at the Cockrell residence, Liggin-Cockrell was alive and conscious, albeit with severe burns covering nearly her entire body. Ironically, Cockrell assisted paramedics in placing his wife onto a backboard for transport to a Texarkana, Texas hospital. A Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed that Cockrell bore no burns or injuries, contradicting his story of both being in bed when the fire ignited.

Cockrell asserted to the deputy that the blaze was likely due to suspect electrical work by the previous homeowner. However, police discovered a container of weed eater gas in the kitchen. When questioned about its presence, Cockrell claimed it was there because he had been repairing a weed eater inside the house.

After Liggin-Cockrell was taken to the hospital, a nurse who had treated her contacted law enforcement to tell them what her patient told her, that Cockrell “poured weed eater gas on her and set her on fire.” Cockrell, who was still at the scene with police, was arrested and charged with domestic battery. He denied setting his wife on fire, still claiming that the fire was electrical.

The charge nurse at Christus St. Michael Hospital told police that Liggin-Cockrell repeatedly said, “He set me on fire, he set me on fire” while she was treated in the emergency room. She also told the nurse that Cockrell “was hitting me and punching me, and telling me how ugly I was, and then he poured gasoline on me and set me on fire.”

The next day, Cockrell, while in custody, apparently came clean. When asked by police to go through the events of the night before, Cockrell told them that he and his wife got a bottle of whiskey and started arguing. Among the topics were their two children, Cockrell’s unemployment, the couple’s financial situation, and previous relationships.

Cockrell said he got the jug of weed eater gas from the kitchen and upon seeing it, Liggin-Cockrell said, “You ain’t gonna pour that gas on me.” He then proceeded to douse her with the gas while she sat on the side of their bed. Cockrell told police that Liggin-Cockrell grabbed a cigarette, and he warned her, “Don’t light that cigarette.”

According to Cockrell, his wife responded, “F— you. I’m gonna light this cigarette because I don’t wanna have to deal with this s— anymore.” She then purportedly lit the cigarette and burst into flames, then ran past him out the home’s front door.

Liggin-Cockrell was transferred to a burn unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She died of her injuries on July 9, 2024.

Police said that at the end of the interview, he asked, “How’d she stay alive so long?”

Cockrell was charged with capital murder and arson. After entering a guilty plea, a judge sentenced him to 45 years for murder and 30 years for arson, to be served consecutively for a total of 75 years.