GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP) -- Molly Daniels spent weeks surfing the Internet, gathering information for a bizarre and grisly plot of deception. She learned how to burn a human body beyond recognition. She sought clues on ways to deceive arson investigators, and took meticulous steps to create a new identity for her husband.
Daniels then dug up a woman's corpse, staged a fiery car accident to fake her husband's death, and had him re-emerge as her new boyfriend. Authorities say it was all to collect a $110,000 life insurance policy while hiding her husband, Clayton Daniels, from the cops.
Molly Daniels pleaded guilty this past week to felony charges of insurance fraud and hindering apprehension, and was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison. "This was a ghoulish, horrific crime," prosecutor Jane Starnes at the sentencing hearing Thursday.
Molly Daniels, 22, insisted the plan wasn't motivated by greed, but rather was a desperate attempt to keep her husband out of prison stemming from a sexual assault charge. "It was about keeping our family together," she tearfully told jurors.
People never cease to amaze me. Details here from the AP via the New York Times.