Man sentenced for strangulation

COEUR d'ALENE - A Coeur d'Alene man was sentenced to 12 years in jail on Tuesday in Kootenai County District Court for attempting to strangle his wife.

Robert M. Williston, 47, admitted to the August strangulation and, according to a press release from the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office, repeatedly slapped and kicked his wife prior to choking her.

Williston was sentenced by District Judge Lansing Haynes, and will be eligible for parole after eight years in prison. He was also sentenced to six years in prison after Haynes revoked Williston's probation on a prior burglary conviction.

The two sentences will be served concurrently.

According to the press release, Williston has an "extensive" criminal record, including four prior felony charges and nine misdemeanor convictions.

"Mr. Williston received a harsh but fair sentence," Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said in the release. "His violent conduct towards his wife, inability to refrain from consuming alcohol, and lack of remorse regarding the savage beating he gave his wife demonstrate a current inability to follow conditions of probation. Incarceration is appropriate to protect our community from his violent nature."