(GRANBURY, TX) – Was it a mercy killing or murder?  That’s what prosecutors and defense attorneys argued to a Hood County jury that sentenced 73 year old Joseph Scala to 20 years in prison for suffocating his 72 year old ailing wife, Betty, at a home in Abe’s Landing near Granbury.

The Hood County News reports Scala was originally charged with murder in the March 2017 death of his wife.  The charges were eventually downgraded to Manslaughter and Scala plead guilty.  The defense said it was a mercy killing, the District Attorney said Scala drove from Arlington to kill his wife in Hood County.  Scala will be eligible for parole in five years.