Scots lecturer jailed for 5 years for trying to kill husband in US

Joanna Findlay, from Blairgowrie, Perthshire, tried to shoot her husband, Gary Trogdon, 55, at their home in Hollywood, Maryland, but missed – only for him to shoot himself dead.

Findlay, 41, who was an English lecturer at Maryland University, was cleared by the jury at St Marys County Circuit Court of actually murdering her husband.

Circuit judge Karen Abrams imposed a sentence of five years without parole, the minimum required by law, for use of a handgun in commission of a violent crime. She also suspended an additional five-year sentence for the second-degree attempted murder charge. She could have been jailed for up to 50 years.

Prosecutor Richard Fritz had argued that Findlay be sentenced to the full term, saying: “She intended to kill Mr Trogdon.”

The judge disagreed, saying during sentencing that because both the couple were both trained in shooting firearms, she did not feel that Findlay had tried to shoot her husband and missed.

The three-day trial heard that Findlay found more than 3,000 indecent images of children on Mr Trogdon’s computer weeks before his death. She confronted the former US air force officer on 30 October, 2010 and later that night a fight erupted.

Findlay told the jury she had punched and bit her husband before pulling a .pistol out and shooting it at the floor.

She then fled the house before hearing shots as she stood in the driveway. Her husband was found dead shortly afterwards.

Findlay said she was “terrified” at the thought of life in jail. Before being sentenced she said: “Going to prison means that I will never have children now, as I will be too old when I get out.”

Mr Trogdon’s brother Greg, 51, said he planned to file for a “wrongful death” civil suit to get her retried for murder.

Findlay moved to the US 15 years ago on a student exchange programme and married Mr Trogdon 11 years ago.