Morristown Man Sentenced in Wife’s Drowning Death

A New Jersey man convicted of drowning his wife in a bathtub at their Morristown home three years ago has been sentenced to 50 years in state prison.

Kleber Cordova must serve more than 38 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole under the sentence imposed Tuesday.

The 33-year-old Cordova, who Morris County prosecutors say is an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, was convicted in April on charges of murder, child endangerment, hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence in the death of his 26-year-old wife, Eliana Torres.

Among the witnesses who testified at his trial was the couple's older daughter, who was 8 years old when her mother died. The girl said she was awakened by her mother's screams and saw her father holding her mother down in the bathtub.

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