SOMERSET — A Paint Township man was sentenced in Somerset County court on Thursday to serve a state prison sentence for killing his wife in April 2019 and burying her body under the house, authorities said.
President Judge D. Gregory Geary sentenced James D. Kline, 50, to six to 40 years in prison. Kline pleaded guilty in January to third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.
Kline stood at the podium wearing an orange jail suit and handcuffs.
The judge asked Kline if he had anything to say.
“I can’t right now,” Kline said, his voice emotional.
State police in Somerset said Kline reported his wife, 46-year-old Cora Kline, missing on April 5, 2019. During the three-month search, James Kline allegedly misled investigators and family by providing several stories about her disappearance.
“I had contacted Jim several time,” Susan Slebodnick, Cora Kline’s aunt, said after sentencing.
“He said she was seen at Walmart, and I asked to see the cameras,” Slebodnick said. “He said they won’t show them to me, and I said, ‘Tell the police.’ He said they won’t do that.”
James Kline also told investigators that his wife was in a detox center. Her body was found on July 1, buried in concrete under the couple’s mobile home.
Kline confessed that he had strangled his wife during a domestic dispute and buried her body under the house.
Kline’s six-year minimum was part of a negotiated sentence between Kline’s attorney, chief public defender Tiffany Stanley, and then-District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas and was approved by the court.
“We worked to negotiate a sentence that would resolve this case to avoid the necessity of a trial,” Stanley said after sentencing.
“We reached an agreement, which as the judge said was within the guideline range.”
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Leiden said after sentencing that the six-year minimum was less than he would have wanted.
“It’s less than I or the current administration would have asked for, but we didn’t make the deal,” he said. “When we make our case to the parole board, we expect he will serve most of his sentence. Given his age, it’s all we need.”
Leiden said that, under sentencing guideline, he anticipated the 40-year maximum sentence.
“I felt confident we would get there,” he said.
