Jurors Find Kent Man Guilty In Wife's Strangulation Death

A Kent man was convicted today of first-degree murder in the strangulation death of his wife, who was about to leave him.

A King County Superior Court jury deliberated five days before concluding that Bernard J. Hletko, a former US West employee, killed Terri Hletko and left her body in the van she was last seen driving from her parents' home in Snohomish County.

Her body was found last May in the van parked along a dirt road three miles south of her Kent home.

A rental application for a new apartment and three checks given to her by her mother were never found.

Terri Hletko's parents let out gasps and shouts of relief and joy when the verdict was read.

Prosecutors presented a largely circumstantial case. Bernard Hletko was described as a controlling husband who told a co-worker he would not pay alimony or child support and if his wife left him he would "pop her neck."

And although he would go to great lengths to keep tabs on his wife - including spying on her and monitoring her phone calls, he did not report her missing.

Hletko, 46, told police he didn't report his wife's disappearance because he thought she "was playing games" with him and found it inconvenient to pursue the matter while watching three children.

Her parents reported her missing several days later.

She had planned to take her three children and leave a bad marriage, her mother said. The three children have been placed with grandparents.

Hletko's defense attorney, Frank Calero, contended prosecutors offered no hard evidence and based their case on innuendo, red herrings and character assassination.

Hletko faces a standard sentence of 20 to 25 years in prison.