Phylliss Nelson of Iowa City will not serve life in prison, but she will do time, as a judge today found her guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the death of her estranged husband Richard– the former executive dean of the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Voluntary manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Judge Thomas Horan ruled that Nelson was not in physical danger in a confrontation with her husband and did have other options when she stabbed Dr. Richard Nelson, on December 12th. Nelson will be sentenced April 21st. Prosecutors had charged here with first-degree murder saying she stabbed her husband over an affair he was having with a former assistant. Phyllis Nelson faces a minimum five year sentence.
