David Viens, Chef Who Cooked His Wife, Found Guilty of Murder
One of the more gruesome trials in recent memory has come to an end.
Earlier this afternoon, David Viens – a Los Angeles chef who admitted to police that he cooked his wife’s remains for four days – was found guilty of second-degree murder.
He faces 15 years in prison.
The crime took place in 2009.
Once in custody, Viens said he and his wife Dawn had gotten into an argument the night prior to her passing. He admitted to tying her up and placing duct tape over her mouth before the couple went to bed.
When he awoke in the morning, Dawn was dead and Viens panicked, insisting he never intended to kill her.
As a result, he boiled his wife’s 105-pound body in a 55-gallon drum and even dumped some of the evidence in a grease pit at his restaurant.
In a recorded interview with authorities that was played for the jury, Viens says: “I just slowly cooked [the body] and I ended up cooking her for four days.”
The body of Dawn Viens was never found.