Irvine man gets 25 years to life for strangling his wife over her affair
Jan. 8, 2016 Updated 7:42 p.m.
A 42-year-old man who strangled his wife in their Irvine home, then took his children to a Jack in the Box restaurant for dinner, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Friday.
Shalabh Rastogi?s family members wrote letters pleading with Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Cassidy to show some leniency in sentencing. The state-mandated sentence for Rastogi, who was convicted Nov. 17 of first-degree murder in the death of his 40-year-old wife, Jalina George, was 25 years to life.
Cassidy had the discretion to deviate from that sentence if there were ?unusual circumstances,? but he said there were none.
Rastogi?s attorney, Melani Bartholomew, argued for probation based on the family?s wishes for a lesser sentence.
?My client takes complete and total responsibility for this,? she said. ?He has shown great remorse and great insight into what happened.?
She said her client is a ?meek, soft-spoken person? who ?snapped? on May 21, 2012, when he killed his wife, who was having an affair.
Bartholomew argued that Rastogi was the ?primary caregiver? to the couple?s children and that they would be ?orphaned? because of the sentence.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Herrera countered, ?This court did not make those children orphans, and neither did the victim. He orphaned those children.?
The judge said, ?This is a tragic case, not only for the loss of the mom, but the kids are now without parents.?
The couple had two daughters and a son and were living in Irvine after a 2011 move from Boston. Rastogi grew suspicious of his wife when he came across a medical bill indicating she was taking birth control measures.
He started using a locator tool on his wife?s cellphone to track her movements and at one point downloaded a chat session she had with her boyfriend, Herrera said.
The couple quarreled about their marriage until they signed a document May 17, 2012, finalizing ?terms of their breakup,? the prosecutor said.
It came to a head May 21 after Rastogi dropped off the children at a class and he and his wife quarreled again in their home. When she tried to leave, he wouldn?t let her, the prosecutor said.
?She says to him, ?I?m going to take the kids,?? Herrera said in her opening statement of the trial.
Rastogi then choked her, saying, ?You?ve ruined my life. I?ve done everything for you and you cheat on me, and now you?re going to take my kids away from me,?? Herrera said.
After his wife fell unconscious, he bought plane tickets for himself and their children to India and then went to pick them up from their class, Herrera said.
They stopped at a Jack in the Box for dinner on the way home and were eating at their residence when the children started asking about their mother?s whereabouts, the prosecutor said.
The couple was an odd pairing, Bartholomew said. He was from a well-to-do family from the north of India, and her family was less wealthy and from the south part of the country.
She was Roman Catholic, and he was Hindu, the attorney said. They met when she got into trouble at their university and faced expulsion, but he used his status to lobby on her behalf, and they fell in love, Bartholomew said.
Rastogi was content to remain in India working for his uncle?s firm, but she dreamed of emigrating to the U.S.
They bought a big house with a pool in Boston in 2009 but sold it at a loss because she wanted to chase Hollywood dreams in California, Bartholomew said.
Rastogi converted to Catholicism for his wife and became a devoted member of the religion, his attorney said.
The two argued about all the auditions she was dragging the children to that sometimes led her to take them out of school, Bartholomew said.
Jan. 8, 2016 Updated 7:42 p.m.
A 42-year-old man who strangled his wife in their Irvine home, then took his children to a Jack in the Box restaurant for dinner, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Friday.
Shalabh Rastogi?s family members wrote letters pleading with Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Cassidy to show some leniency in sentencing. The state-mandated sentence for Rastogi, who was convicted Nov. 17 of first-degree murder in the death of his 40-year-old wife, Jalina George, was 25 years to life.
Cassidy had the discretion to deviate from that sentence if there were ?unusual circumstances,? but he said there were none.
Rastogi?s attorney, Melani Bartholomew, argued for probation based on the family?s wishes for a lesser sentence.
?My client takes complete and total responsibility for this,? she said. ?He has shown great remorse and great insight into what happened.?
She said her client is a ?meek, soft-spoken person? who ?snapped? on May 21, 2012, when he killed his wife, who was having an affair.
Bartholomew argued that Rastogi was the ?primary caregiver? to the couple?s children and that they would be ?orphaned? because of the sentence.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Herrera countered, ?This court did not make those children orphans, and neither did the victim. He orphaned those children.?
The judge said, ?This is a tragic case, not only for the loss of the mom, but the kids are now without parents.?
The couple had two daughters and a son and were living in Irvine after a 2011 move from Boston. Rastogi grew suspicious of his wife when he came across a medical bill indicating she was taking birth control measures.
He started using a locator tool on his wife?s cellphone to track her movements and at one point downloaded a chat session she had with her boyfriend, Herrera said.
The couple quarreled about their marriage until they signed a document May 17, 2012, finalizing ?terms of their breakup,? the prosecutor said.
It came to a head May 21 after Rastogi dropped off the children at a class and he and his wife quarreled again in their home. When she tried to leave, he wouldn?t let her, the prosecutor said.
?She says to him, ?I?m going to take the kids,?? Herrera said in her opening statement of the trial.
Rastogi then choked her, saying, ?You?ve ruined my life. I?ve done everything for you and you cheat on me, and now you?re going to take my kids away from me,?? Herrera said.
After his wife fell unconscious, he bought plane tickets for himself and their children to India and then went to pick them up from their class, Herrera said.
They stopped at a Jack in the Box for dinner on the way home and were eating at their residence when the children started asking about their mother?s whereabouts, the prosecutor said.
The couple was an odd pairing, Bartholomew said. He was from a well-to-do family from the north of India, and her family was less wealthy and from the south part of the country.
She was Roman Catholic, and he was Hindu, the attorney said. They met when she got into trouble at their university and faced expulsion, but he used his status to lobby on her behalf, and they fell in love, Bartholomew said.
Rastogi was content to remain in India working for his uncle?s firm, but she dreamed of emigrating to the U.S.
They bought a big house with a pool in Boston in 2009 but sold it at a loss because she wanted to chase Hollywood dreams in California, Bartholomew said.
Rastogi converted to Catholicism for his wife and became a devoted member of the religion, his attorney said.
The two argued about all the auditions she was dragging the children to that sometimes led her to take them out of school, Bartholomew said.
