(Newser)
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A Southern California wife claims she shot dead her one-time star shot-putter husband because of years of physical abuse. Jane Laut was charged last week with the murder of her husband, Dave, who won an Olympic bronze medal for his sport in 1984. "It's a lawful homicide and it was done in self-defense," said her attorney. "She was fearful of him."
The Ventura district attorney, however, called it an "execution-style murder in which a man was shot multiple times in the head by his wife that's inconsistent with self defense." Jane Laut told police that she killed her husband of 29 years in August when he threatened to shoot their adopted son and make her watch. Dave Laut's plans to reenter the Olympics in 1986 were dashed when he tore tendons in both knees during an agility test to become a firefighter.
