Wisconsin man gets 25 years for drowning wife


EAGLE RIVER, Wis. (AP) — A northern Wisconsin man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for drowning his wife in a toilet in 1999.

Doug Plude was accused of poisoning 28-year-old Genell Plude with migraine medicine, drowning her in the toilet at their Land O’Lakes home and trying to make it look like a suicide.

The 43-year-old pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide as part of a plea deal this fall.

Plude initially was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in 2002, and served five years. That conviction was overturned because an expert witness had exaggerated his credentials.

Plude received credit for time served, so he’ll serve a little more than 19 years.

In court Wednesday, Plude reasserted that his wife killed herself with prescription drugs and that he was sorry it happened.