A 62-year-old man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after killing his estranged wife in front of a Lake Forest hotel on June 10, 2020.
Philip Douglas Whyte shot his 43-year-old wife Cindy Whyte three times at the Hilton Garden Inn on Lake Center Drive, three miles from the Irvine Spectrum Center. He shot Cindy shortly before 1:15 p.m. in the hotel’s parking lot. Deputies were called to the scene shortly after the incident.
Whyte was convicted in June 2022 of first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement due to the firing off of a firearm that caused death.
He was seen taking a telephone call when deputies arrived. Multiple witnesses then informed officers that he had just shot his wife. She was rushed to the hospital where she was soon pronounced dead. Whyte was arrested and hospitalized after suffering from unrelated health complications not disclosed to the public.
Deputies found a handgun and a written statement titled “The Life of Michael and Cindy’s Relationship” in the suspect’s car, MyNewsLA reported.
The statement was not used during the trial. It outlined the good and bad of their relationship and his suspicion that his wife had been cheating on him causing him health issues.
“20 years of marriage I’ve invested everything I own body and soul,” Whyte wrote in the statement. “My wife took everything I own, left me with an STD herpes virus.”
Despite Whyte’s claim, an autopsy of the victim’s body did not indicate that she had herpes. However, Whyte’s attorney Jessica Sweeny claims that expert testimony reported that only a blood sample could determine if a sexually transmitted disease was present.
Court filings revealed that messages were recovered suggesting that the victim was fearful of her husband according to the OC Register.
The victim’s sister wrote that Cindy Whyte fled the Whyte’s residence due to abuse. The suspect was said to have found and stalked her.
Sweeny argued to the courts that Whyte suffered from mental health issues, depressive disorder and the loss of his marriage, causing him to become suicidal.
Jai’La Du Rousseau is a 2022-23 Copy Chief. She can be reached at jdurouss@uci.edu.
