Ex-store owner sentenced to life for wife's murder

MOUNT CLEMENS (AP) -- A former comics shop owner convicted twice of the murder of his wife was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for the fatal shooting in the back of their Detroit-area business in 1990. Michael George declared his innocence and read a two-page statement. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2008, but won a second trial after a judge found errors by prosecutors and potential new evidence emerged. He was found guilty again in October at his second trial. "Something will be found. Something will be said. I never did this crime," George, 51, told Macomb County Circuit Judge Mary Chrzanowski. Authorities claim he wanted to get rid of his wife, Barbara George, and collect about $130,000 in life insurance when he fatally shot her in their Clinton Township shop, Comics World. "He's guilty -- 24 jurors now," said Barbara George's sister, Chris Ball, referring to the two trials. George also was ordered to pay $130,000 to an insurance company. Defense attorney Carl Marlinga plans to appeal. "My client is, indeed, innocent of these crimes," said Marlinga, a former prosecutor. "This is the worst I've ever felt at any sentencing because of my subjective personal belief that my client is innocent." At trial, Marlinga said George was at his mother's home at the time of the shooting. He told jurors that a man wearing a Greek fisherman's cap and a man with a fake beard were outside the shop about the time Barbara George was killed. Comic books valued at $30,000 were taken. George wasn't charged until 2007, 17 years after the death. He had remarried, moved to Pennsylvania and opened a Comics World store in Windber, about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Published: Wed, Nov 23, 2011