#gwinettcounty #georgia #phillipchaddunn #shelleydyandunn

A spurned husband was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after a jury convicted him of murdering his wife after learning of her adulterous affair.

That Phillip Chad Dunn, 29, of Braselton, stabbed his estranged wife to death on Valentine's Day 2010 was never in question during the trial. However, defense attorney Wystan Getz asked a Gwinnett County jury to find Dunn guilty of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a penalty of 20 years in prison, because he said he committed the crime in the heat of passion.

Assistant District Attorney Christa Kirk thought otherwise, asking jurors to find Dunn guilty of malice murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence.

The jury returned a verdict after deliberating for two hours. Dunn's life sentenc includes 24 months on probation, consecutive to a 20-year sentence he previously received for choking his wife two weeks prior to the murder.

Dunn also was convicted of aggravated assault and two counts of third-degree cruelty to children for slaying Shelley Dunn at a Walmart in Suwanee in front of their two daughters, who were then 6 and 8 years old.