A South Carolina man was sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife with a butcher knife because she wouldn’t “shut up.”
Anthony Argoe, 60, was convicted of murder for a crime that happened almost three years ago – on June 14, 2019. Argoe killed his wife, Lynda Shuler, 55, in their home in Summerville.
On the night of the murder, police received a request from the victim’s daughter to do a wellness check on her mother. Police forced their way into the home and found Shuler’s body propped up against the couch, lifeless, with a 19-inch butcher knife still stuck in her neck. An autopsy showed that she was stabbed 14 times in her arms, chest, stomach and face before Argoe plunged the knife into her neck.
During the trial, a witness testified that Argoe, referring to his wife, told him, “She would never shut up” and that he shut her up for good.
It took the jury only 40 minutes to come to a verdict. The evidence was overwhelming.
Prior to the crime, witnesses say that Argoe had quit his job and went on an alcohol binge and started buying lottery tickets. The couple was evicted from their home when he stopped paying rent.
His wife got fed up and decided to leave him and stay with her daughter. A day before the murder, her bags were packed in her car and ready to go. She never got to leave.
Before the victim’s body was found, Argoe was seen drunk and unconscious on the street and was brought to a hospital where he was found to have an alcohol level of 156 mg/DL confirming that he was intoxicated during the murder. His wife’s blood was found on his clothing.
A neighbor said she heard loud arguments between the couple, and the victim’s daughter testified that her mother was a victim of domestic abuse for a long time.
Argoe showed no emotion as he listened to the witnesses’ testimonies and was sentenced.