Man who shot his wife through the legs sentenced to prison

IDAHO FALLS — A man who shot his wife through the legs while she was taking a shower will spend between one and eight years in prison.

Andrew J. Wilson, 24, was sentenced Monday for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Wilson shot his wife while she was showering on April 20. The .22 caliber bullet traveled through both of her thighs and missed her femoral artery by 1.27 centimeters, according to court documents.

“I would have bled out in three minutes or less” if the bullet had hit the artery, the victim said while on the stand Monday. “I would just be another name in the news with you as the headline that you shot your wife, and I’d only be remembered for that — not my art, not for the things I did in the community when I was younger, not for what I could have become.”

In Wilson’s version of what happened the day he shot his wife, he said he’d seen her texting another man. He got angry and grabbed his pistol to try and scare her out of the house. He said he never intended to shoot her. He said he accidentally ripped the shower curtain down then blacked out. That’s when the gun went off. Wilson did call 911 immediately after the shooting and cooperated when police arrived, admitting that he was the shooter.

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“I do not know if there are any words to express how sorry I am. Not only to (the victim) but to your family as well. I let you all down and caused a great deal of hurt and pain,” Wilson said during the sentencing hearing. “I am sorry for any trouble I have caused you, physically, mentally, financially.”

District Judge Joel Tingey handed down the eight-year sentence after hearing arguments from Wilson’s public defender, John Thomas, and Bonneville County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Dewey.

Thomas argued that there is debate over whether or not Wilson shooting his wife was on purpose or accidental and that he should be given probation.

“We just don’t think it’s a prison case. We just don’t think that he should go to prison,” Thomas said.

Dewey disagreed.

Ammon man says he ‘blacked out’ when he shot his wife, according to documents

“This is a prison case. This defendant brought a firearm into a dispute, largely a one-sided dispute, while someone else was taking a shower, then fired a weapon at her, hurting her and nearly killing her,” Dewey said.

Tingey ultimately decided to give Wilson a prison sentence. During his comments, Tingey expressed concern over some of the things Wilson said.

“There’s some buzzwords floating around here that cause me some concern about what could happen in the future,” Tingey said. “If you’re blacking out, that’s not a good thing. If you’re doing things you don’t intend to, that’s an issue.”

Tingey acknowledged the victim’s pain and the trauma she spoke about in her victim impact statement.

“I don’t know if you can ever really recover from that type of event, so all of that warrants a level of punishment,” he said.

Wilson was also fined $300 and will be required to pay restitution.