ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A man in St. Augustine will serve over 40 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering his wife.

David Armstrong entered a guilty plea agreement for second-degree murder and criminal mischief in a hearing on Thursday.

Armstrong has been sentenced to 42.5 years in prison.

On Dec. 19, 2022, deputies with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office responded to Armstrong’s home after he told 911 operators an elaborate lie that his wife had been dropped off in their yard, bruised and naked, by a Black man. Officers arrived on the scene and found the woman dead.

A report from the medical examiner’s office revealed that the victim had died from blunt force trauma of the head, neck and torso. 

Police say that her injuries coincided with previous claims that the victim made to officials, where she had said Armstrong would threaten to “cave her skull in with a cinder block.”

“The defendant literally beat his wife to death,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said about the case. “This conviction and sentence is the result of hard work and dedication from the sheriff’s office and your state attorney’s office. We work together every day, and in every case, to protect you and your family.”