People v. Hightower

Defendant, Billie Gene Hightower, was found guilty of the murder of his wife and was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment. The relevant facts can be summarized as follows. The defendant’s wife, Cathy Hightower, who was the victim, had carried on a rather public adulterous relationship with a former lover while she was married to the defendant. The defendant would give Cathy Hightower money to buy household items, and she would, in turn, spend defendant’s money for, among other things, entertaining her lover. The Hightowers’ relationship was fraught with many problems, and they were separated…