Talk about a ghost from Christmas past — Prosecutors say that a California man allegedly killed his wife and propped up her dead body in front of his kids as they opened Christmas gifts.
The man, William Wallace, 39, was arrested on first-degree murder charge for the murder of his wife Za’Zell Preston, 26, on Christmas Day in 2011 and has remained in jail with a $1 million bail as he awaited his trial which began on Monday.
The Orange County Register reports prosecutors said that Wallace killed his wife during an altercation the night before and, on the morning of the holiday, he moved his dead wife’s body to the couch, put sunglasses on her and proclaimed to their children — who were 8, 3, and 7-weeks old at the time, “Mommy ruined Christmas, she got drunk and ruined Christmas.”
According the Mercury News, Wallace’s attorney claimed that his client is “being accused of something that is not his fault” and that Preston got drunk and fell on a glass table, shattering it and hitting her head in the process.
If convicted, Wallace faces 25 years to life in prison.