Guilty: NJ man killed wife in front of their kids outside YMCA

A Union County jury has returned guilty verdicts against a Hillside man accused of fatally shooting his wife in front of his two young children, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Thursday.

Ewart Guillette, 36, was convicted of murder, related weapons offenses, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal contempt after several hours of jury deliberation spread across two days following a three-week trial before state Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim, the prosecutor's office said.

The shooting happened more than five years ago.

At approximately 8 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2010, Ewart Guillette approached 38-year-old Stacey Guillette as she and their two children, then ages 6 and 8, were visiting the YWCA Union County building on East Jersey Street in Elizabeth, the prosecutor's office said.

Ewart Guillette fired at his estranged wife multiple times as she stood on the steps of the YWCA, emptying one handgun of bullets before producing another and emptying it as well, the prosecutor's office said.

Stacey Guillette was rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead "while a fast-moving Union County Homicide Task Force investigation quickly identified Ewart Guillette as a suspect" it said.

The prosecutor's office said Ewart Guillette fled to Philadelphia, where he was located and arrested by law enforcement hours later.

Guillette is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Peim on Dec. 11. Convictions on murder charges commonly result in sentences of 30 years to life in state prison.