SANTA ANA — A husband was sentenced Thursday to 28 years to life in state prison for stabbing and murdering his wife in an Anaheim hotel room.
Bruce Allen Ohlwine, 50, was found guilty by a jury on March 5 of first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon.
On March 11, the same jury found that the defendant, who had entered pleas of “not guilty” and “not guilty by reason of insanity,” was legally sane at the time of the murder.
The court found the sentencing enhancement that the defendant committed the crime while out on bail to be true.
On Feb. 12, 2013, Bruce Ohlwine was staying at the Staybridge Suites on the 1800 block of South Manchester Avenue with his wife, 37-year-old Saori Ohlwine. At some point during the day, the defendant used a knife and stabbed the victim seven times in the chest, eye, and legs.
The next day, hotel staff contacted the Anaheim Police Department (APD) to evict the defendant and his wife from their hotel room after the defendant had refused to leave.
APD officers entered the room and found a large amount of blood covering the walls and floors; found the victim’s body in a bathtub filled with bloody water; found the defendant in the hotel room; and had him transported to the hospital to be treated for a stab wound to his torso and a severed middle finger.
APD investigated this case. Senior Deputy District Attorney Troy Pino of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
According to The Orange County Register, Orange County Superior Court records show that Bruce and Saori Ohlwine were charged last year with felony charges of pimping and conspiring to commit a crime, as well as misdemeanor charges of resisting a peace officer. Both pleaded not guilty.