Man gets 70 years in prison for kidnapping his ex-wife

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A prominent former advertising executive was sentenced today to 70 years in prison for kidnapping his ex-wife, holding her hostage for hours and burning down the Connecticut home they once shared.

Richard Shenkman, 62, was sentenced in Hartford Superior Court after a jury convicted him in October of 10 charges including kidnapping, arson, assault and threatening. He faced a potential of nearly 80 years in prison.

Shenkman and his ex-wife, Nancy Tyler, were in the middle of divorce-related court hearings when he abducted her from her office's parking garage in downtown Hartford on July 7, 2009, and forced her at gunpoint to drive about nine miles to the home in South Windsor.

Authorities said Shenkman and Tyler were due in court for a divorce-related hearing later that morning, and he was supposed to turn over the house to her or face jail time for contempt of court.

Tyler testified that Shenkman threatened to kill her, fired a gun near her head and threatened to blow up the house. She escaped unharmed, and he was arrested after running out of the burning house.