Sheriff's deputy who killed wife returning to Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A former Spokane County sheriff’s deputy convicted of murdering his wife has been released by the Department of Corrections and is expected to return to Spokane this week.

Thomas DiBartolo, now 65, killed 39-year-old Patty DiBartolo in Lincoln Park in 1996.

The Spokesman-Review reports he served most of his sentence in a prison on the East Coast. Last summer, he was transferred to a work-release facility in Yakima.

A jury convicted DiBartolo of first-degree murder for the Nov. 2, 1996, shooting death.

He claimed that he and his wife were walking in Spokane's Lincoln Park when two men, one he described as a young black man, attempted to rob them at gunpoint.

Patty DiBartolo was shot in the back of the head, and DiBartolo had a superficial gunshot wound. Prosecutors later argued the off-duty deputy’s injuries were part of his attempt to cover up the crime.

DiBartolo continues to claim his innocence.