A Navy sailor’s legal defence that he killed his wife’s lover “in the heat of passion” after he found them having sex in his home has been rejected by a judge.
Tyler Jenkins, 26, of Virginia Beach, is accused of killing 28-year-old Timothy Paul Talley on 11 March after he walked into his apartment and found Talley and his wife being intimate, The Virginian Pilot reported.
Mr Jenkins’ wife, who is also in the Navy and had just returned from a 24-day duty at the time of the killing, said they had separated just three months after their marriage in April last year. They had reportedly agreed to sleep in different rooms and see other people, the wife said.
During a hearing on Thursday, Mr Jenkin’s defence argued that his charges should be downgraded to voluntary manslaughter because he had acted in the heat of passion.
Instead, Judge Sandra Menago reiterated Mr Jenkins’s previous charges of second-degree murder, illegal use of a gun and maliciously firing into an occupied building, the Pilot reported.
According to the outlet, Mr Jenkins’ wife testified during the hearing that the couple were separated three months after they got married and decided to live in different rooms in their home.
She said Mr Jenkins was aware she had been seeing other romantic partners and that she had been looking for a lawyer to officialise the divorce.
Despite that, Mr Jenkins allegedly continued to pursue her romantically and filed an adultery report with her command, according to the Pilot.
After she arrived from a month-long Navy duty, Mr Jenkins reportedly welcomed her with a bouquet on the day of the tragedy. After rejecting the flowers, the woman went to a restaurant and then returned home with Talley.
Mr Jenkins then allegedly walked inside the room and shot Talley as he tried to put his hands in the air to de-escalate the situation.
