Man gets life in prison for killing his ex-wife 20 years ago even though her body was never found... and the couple's grown-up son who forgot his mother STILL defends his convicted murderer father
- Clifford Friend, 56, was sentenced in Miami for the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Lynn Friend, then 35
- Prosecutors said he choked her in a rage over their bitter custody battle and dumped her body in the Atlantic Ocean
- Son Christian, who was 5 when his mother was murdered, stood firmly by his convicted dad's side, saying he's 'the best person' he knows
A Florida man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the 1994 murder of his wife — even though authorities never recovered her body from where it was dumped at sea off the Miami coast.
Clifford Friend, 56, was convicted in July for the second-degree murder of Lynne Friend, 35, who vanished after winning a bitter child custody battle over their son Christian, then 5 years old.
Friend was expected to receive just 22 years for the 20-year-old crime, but Judge Teresa Pooler handed down a much stiffer punishment, WSVN reported.
'The evidence shows, sir, that you committed a monstrous act,' Judge Pooler told him in court Thursday, the station reported. 'Mrs. Friend's life was precious and you took it from her.
'Then you dumped her body in the Atlantic Ocean like she was a sack of trash.'
Clifford Friend, 58, will spend the rest of his life in prison for the 1994 killing of his ex-wife Lynne
Victim: Lynne Friend, then 35, disappeared shortly after winning a bitter custody battle against Clifford Friend. Her body was never found
On the night she disappeared, Lynne told her fiancé that Friend has called her to his Pembroke Pines home to pick up a child support check.
Later that night, US Customers officers spotted Friend and pal Alan Gold racing out to sea on his 30-foot Chapparal boat.
The officers saw the men throw something over the side of the boat before speeding off.
Her body was never found, but Gold testified against Friend in exchange for immunity — telling jurors that Friend confided in him that he choked his wife. He also said the duo dumped her body, stuffed in a large duffel bag, at sea.
