EVERETT — Gina Mangulabnan’s life won’t be defined by her violent death.
Her children will remember her generosity and strength. She put their needs above her own and worked hard to take care of them, her daughter said.
Mangulabnan was making plans to leave her husband toward the end of 2014. She had endured years of physical and emotional abuse, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne was told Tuesday. She filed for divorce to escape.
“Victims of domestic violence are governed by fear,” Mangulabnan’s daughter said.
The woman’s father stood in shackles and a jail uniform feet away. Wesley Mangulabnan, 49, pleaded guilty in November to second-degree domestic violence murder. He stabbed his wife repeatedly with a box cutter and then attempted suicide.
Wynne on Tuesday sentenced the Bothell man to nearly 17 years in prison — about a year shy of the maximum allowed by law.
“This is nothing less than a brutal murder,” Wynne said.
The defendant, who had slashed his throat and wrists, spoke in a whisper, telling the judge he loves his children and he loved his wife.
Wynne said he couldn’t imagine the trauma the defendant caused his family.
Gina Mangulabnan, 48, had returned to the apartment she shared with her husband, mother and children. She was packing up her belongings and cleaning up the apartment Dec. 4, 2014. Her mother and one son were home. Her daughter had gone to the apartment building’s office to do homework. The couple’s other son wasn’t home.
Gina Mangulabnan yelled for help from the master bedroom. The door was locked. The couple’s daughter eventually forced open the door. They found the Mangulabnans lying next to each other near the bathroom. They were covered in blood. Gina Mangulabnan had multiple cuts to her throat, stomach and left arm. Her daughter wrapped a towel around her mother’s throat to stop the blood.
“When I found her her entire body was mutilated by his knife,” the woman said Tuesday.
Wesley Mangulabnan still had a box cutter in his hand. His wife told their daughter to take the knife away. The couple’s son, who lives with autism, eventually was able to get the weapon.
“Her last words to me were, ‘I’m dying. I love you,’?” the woman told Wynne.
Gina Mangulabnan died two days later.
Her daughter asked the judge to sentence Wesley Mangulabnan to the maximum. She and her brothers have suffered because of his violence. Their mother deserves justice, the woman said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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