Ex-Marine from LI sentenced to 25 to life for killing wife over pregnancy, medical bills

A former US Marine from Long Island has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars for killing his pregnant wife because he did not want the baby – or to have to pay for the child’s health insurance.

Michael Owen, 30, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted in August of second-degree murder for strangling 27-year-old estranged spouse Kelly Owen in her Farmingdale home in 2020 while she was pregnant with their second child, Newsday reported.

Owen — a cell-tower technician whose DNA was found on the neck of his nursing student wife — denied killing her before he was sentenced.

“He killed her in a violent and personal way,” Kelly’s dad, Frank Bretana, said in Nassau County court. “He knew he had to continue until he knew she was gone. He knew he would have to watch her die.”

Bretana recalled seeing his daughter “lying facedown on her bed — she was cold and lifeless” — and hearing the distraught screams of his wife upon seeing their child’s body.

“It’s an image no one should have to see. Diane’s screams, followed by a flurry of activity. The medic came out, put his hand on her shoulder, and told her that Kelly was gone,” he said, referring to his wife, Kelly’s mom.

Owen faced straight ahead as Bretana spoke and offered no reaction to his father-in-law’s heartbreaking words, according to the news outlet.

“I did not do this,” the killer said before his sentencing, Newsday reported.

He and Kelly — who were married in 2013 and had a daughter that year — had been arguing over medical insurance and money issues at the time of the murder, Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said in 2020.

“He did not want this child. He did not want to give her medical insurance. He had this new relationship he was involved in, and he was in a bad position,” Fitzpatrick said after Kelly was killed.

The couple separated in March 2018 over financial and other matters but continued a “physical and intimate” relationship, he said. Kelly lived with her parents, brother and daughter Bryn.

A medical examiner determined that she died of asphyxiation.

Kelly worked as an aide at an elementary school. When she did not show up for work, a co-worker called her parents, who discovered her body, prosecutors said.

“Michael Owen drove to his estranged wife’s house on Jan. 15, 2020, with the intention of killing her,” Nassau DA Anne Donnelly said, according to Newsday.

“Kelly was a young mother and pregnant with Owen’s child at the time of her brutal murder. She worked with children and had dreams of becoming a nurse. Michael Owen stole those dreams, and now he will pay for his crimes in prison,” she added.

Bretana recounted how he had to tell his granddaughter, who was 6 at the time, that her mom was dead.

“We brought Bryn home — we had her in hiding. We went into Bryn’s room and told her that her mother was an angel in heaven. She went into her closet and started to cry,” he told the court, the outlet reported.

Owen’s lawyer, Joseph Hanshe, has filed an appeal and vowed to continue fighting to clear his client.

“To this day, we believe that he is not guilty, and we will continue to fight this conviction,” he said.

But Justice Robert McDonald denied Owen’s request to set aside the verdict.

“The place you are going is a cold dark place, but not as cold and as dark as your heart is,” the judge told the killer. “It is my fervent hope that Bryn never have to see you or speak to you for the rest of your life.”