Pittsville woman sentenced 20 years for killing husband

Shawna Hournbuckle could spend up to the next two decades behind bars for the April 2016 murder of her husband, 45-year-old Jeremy Nolin,  after a Wicomico County Circuit Court judge sentenced her Thursday.

Hournbuckle was found guilty by a jury of second degree murder in January and the state requested the maximum sentence of 30 years. However the judge said because of Hournbuckle's lack of prior violent crimes, she decided to go with a lesser sentence, 20 years.

Under Maryland law Hournbuckle will be eligible for parole after serving half of her sentence, meaning she could be released as soon as 2027.

Something that didn't sit well with Nolin's sister, Amber.

"I feel it's unjust, ten years puts her at a younger age than he was when she stabbed him," Amber said.

According to charging documents Hournbuckle originally claimed that her and her husband,Nolin, were fighting the night before the incident and that Nolin attacked her once she went to bed. In response Hournbuckle claimed she grabbed a pairing knife and stabbed Nolin in his chest.

Hournbuckle told authorities the next day she found Nolin's body covered in blood and cold to the touch, so she cleaned the wound and wrapped him in blanket before walking to the park where she later called the police.

However detectives later found inconsistencies in Hournbuckle's story. A crime scene investigation revealed a large butcher's knife covered in blood in a kitchen drawer.

Amber said despite the evidence, Hournbuckle still maintains her innocence. She said Hournbuckle sent her family a letter saying as much.

"The letter stated that she was sorry for our loss, my mother, my niece and I, I guess would be who she's sorry for our loss and still maintains that it was self defense," Amber said.

Hournbuckle's defense attorney read a prepared statement from his client in which she expressed her remorse. 

She stated she would give the world to have Jeremy back he was her best friend and that his loss is something she will have to live with everyday.