Father: Wife who drowned son 'lost control'
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Kenneth Wilhelm
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TROY, New York (CNN) -- A New York woman diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years to life in prison for drowning her 4-year-old son last year in a bathtub and trying to kill another son.
In July, Christine Wilhelm was convicted of murder in the April 15, 2002, drowning death of her son Luke. She also was found guilty of attempted murder for trying to drown son Peter, then 5, who escaped her grasp at their home in Hoosick Falls, a small town northeast of Albany.
CNN National Correspondent Gary Tuchman spoke with the boys' father, Kenneth Wilhelm, after Wednesday's sentencing hearing.
TUCHMAN: First of all, my condolences on the loss of your son. And I want to ask you first, how is your son Peter doing -- he's starting first grade tomorrow -- how is he doing now?
WILHELM: He's 6 years old. He's doing real well. He's starting school tomorrow. He's very excited about it -- a little nervous, but we pretty much shelter him from the goings-on here except for what he needed to be here for.
TUCHMAN: You said when you talked before the judge that your wife was basically a diabolical woman. She is a diagnosed schizophrenic. Was there ever a time when you thought she was not guilty by reason of insanity?
WILHELM: I can't say that I thought there was ever a time when I definitely felt that way. Initially, I wasn't sure what happened. ...
TUCHMAN: Why do you think she did this?
WILHELM: I don't know exactly why. The only thing I've ever been able to come up with -- from the information I have -- is something happened. She got very upset with the children.
I think at that point maybe she -- like a lot of other parents -- lost control. It's not uncommon. That's the way most abuse cases happen. A parent loses control, does something that is without judgment, and after that they have to reap the consequences.
TUCHMAN: You must be wracking your brain to know how she could have done that.
WILHELM: Yeah, well, the only scenario you come up with is possibly Luke was a little bit closer to myself. There seemed to be a bond there after a near-drowning incident with him down in Florida where we used to live in which I resuscitated him.
