INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – An Independence Township man was sentenced Tuesday to 60-100 years in prison for murdering his wife in front of his children.
In May 2015, police found Lindsey Mauti and the family dog beaten to death outside the family's home in Independence Township.
Joseph Mauti was sentenced Tuesday to 60 to 100 years behind bars.
Lindsey Mauti's father spoke to Local 4 after talking in court about how his daughter's cold-blooded death has taken a toll on the family.
"The evidence proved that it was premeditated with his calling Lindsey repeatedly, calling his parents, begging her to return home, the front door being screwed shut days earlier before her returning back home," the prosecution said.
Joseph Mauti confessed to striking his wife and dog with a baseball bat multiple times, killing them while their two young children were upstairs.
"He was on probation for domestic violence for beating her previously in 2014," the prosecution said.
"For two years we've been waiting to get this conviction, and it's been a long process, and today it came true that he's going to jail for the rest of his life," said John Eaton, Lindsey Mauti's father.
Joseph Mauti apologized to his wife's family, friends and children.
"First of all, I'd like to apologize to my children ... I ask for their forgiveness, I am very sorry for my conduct," he said.
But Eaton said that doesn't erase the bad memories for the two little ones. He said the death of his daughter and their mother will forever torment the family.
"He needs help," Eaton said. "He's a great kid, but he saw what happened. He saw his mother, he saw her lying on the ground."
Joseph Mauti was initially charged with first-degree murder, but the jury decided on second-degree murder.
The judge went beyond the sentencing guidelines in the case, giving Joseph Mauti 60 to 100 years in prison because it was such a brutal killing.
A motive in the case is still unknown. Eaton said that hurts the family the most because they loved Joseph Mauti and he seemed like an OK person. They said Lindsey Mauti made her husband a better person, but that he obviously had a personality disorder that fooled everyone.