Former Ohio judge gets life in prison for killing ex-wife in front of daughter
Lance Mason will not be eligible for parole for 35 years, but the victim's family doesn't want him to ever leave prison
Lance Mason will not be eligible for parole for 35 years, but the victim's family doesn't want him to ever leave prison
A former Ohio judge was sentenced to life in prison last week for the stabbing death of his ex-wife and the mother of his children.
According to AOL, Friday, ex-Cuyahoga County common pleas judge, Lance Mason, was sentenced for the fatal attack against Aisha Fraser. In August, Mason pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated murder, felonious assault, violating a protection order and grand theft auto.
Prosecutors say on Nov. 18, 2018, Fraser went to drop off one of her and Mason’s daughters at the residence where he and his sister were living in suburban Cleveland when the heinous attack took place.
READ MORE: Disgraced Cleveland area judge accused of fatally stabbing estranged wife
But Cleveland.com reports that upon Fraser’s arrival the 52-year-old flew into an unprovoked fit of rage, stabbing his ex-wife 59 times with two kitchen knives in front of their children.
That’s when one of their daughters ran inside the home and told Mason’s sister, who then called 911. However, this wasn’t the first altercation. In August 2014 Mason was suspended from practicing law after attacking Fraser in front of their children while they were driving home from a relative’s funeral.
At the time, NBC News reported, the former judge had repeatedly struck Fraser in the head, bit her face and slammed her head against the dashboard. The altercation led Fraser to seek a divorce and Mason receiving a nine-month sentence after pleading guilty to the assault.
The former judge will be eligible for parole after spending at least 35 years behind bars; 30 for the murder of his ex-wife and 5 for injuring a police officer while he was fleeing from the scene of the crime.
Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Anna Faraglia said during the sentencing that a clear message needed to be sent in this case.
“Whether you live on 30th and Superior [on Cleveland’s East Side], or you’re somebody who lives in Shaker Heights and has a law degree from the University of Michigan, we are not going to treat you any differently,” Faraglia said.
But Fraser’s family wants him never to be released. “You’re a vicious liar with no remorse other than the fact that you ruined your own career,” Millicent Fraser, the victim’s mother said. “What a monster you are.”
Mason said in court that he was obsessed with protecting his daughters when he found out a family member had been sexually abused, according to Cleveland.com. After he completed his sentence in the assault, Fraser had started dating, although she made efforts to keep her ex-husband in their daughter’s lives. But Mason did not want any men around the girls without his presence.
“I recognize I failed my daughters,” Mason said, then correcting himself. “Our daughters.”
