JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man on Friday was sentenced to 40 years in prison in the 2018 stabbing death of his wife of 20 years.
Gerard Stewart, 49, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Recommended Videos
Stewart’s arrest in 2018 ended a daylong SWAT standoff in his Sandalwood neighborhood, where police found his wife’s body in the trunk of his car. Police said they found 42-year-old Julie Stewart’s body wrapped in bedding and plastic. They said she had multiple gunshot wounds, her throat was cut and there were stab wounds to the chest.
Related: Evidence points to marital, custody issues prompting wife’s murder | Man confesses to stabbing wife, stuffing body in trunk, police say | Man pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder in 2018 stabbing death of wife | Jury deadlocks on first-degree murder charge for man whose wife was found in trunk in 2018
Court records showed that Stewart told his mother and a neighbor he killed his wife, who’d asked for a divorce. After Stewart told family members what he had done, he took a lot of pills in an attempt to kill himself, according to evidence.
Stewart, a retired Navy man, was served divorce papers in April of 2018. According to a petition for dissolution of marriage, the couple had been married for 20 years. Her divorce attorney said Julie Stewart was a stay-at-home mother of their 9-year-old son. She had a dog-walking business on the side. Stewart worked at a Gainesville car dealership.
The boy was not in the home during the standoff and a source said he is staying with his grandparents.