David Dauzat: Man Gets 52 Years For Beheading Wife In Front Of Their Children, Hiding Her Head In Freezer

David Dauzat will spend the next five decades in prison for beheading his wife in front of their young children and then stuffing her head in a freezer.

The 24-year-old Texas man pleaded guilty to killing 21-year-old Natasha Dauzat back in 2016, the New York Daily News reported. Dauzat took a plea deal that allowed him to avoid going to trial and instead receive a single 50-year sentence. The prosecutor, Michael Jarrett, said they had the couple’s young children in mind when they arranged the deal, not wanting to have them go through what could have been an extended trial.

Family members said David Dauzat was acting strangely just before his wife’s murder, with David’s brother saying he received a series of strange phone calls. In a later phone call, David Dauzat admitted that he had killed his wife while the couple’s 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter were home.

Dauzat’s brother phoned police to ask them to make a welfare check at the family’s mobile home, where they found the woman dead in a bloody scene. Dauzat barricaded himself in the mobile home and police had to evacuate other residents for more than an hour until they were able to convince him to come out, KWTX reported. Neither of the children were injured in the attack, USA Today reported.

A police report showed that David Dauzat had stabbed his wife 43 times and cut off her head, which he placed in a freezer.

Dauzat’s attorney said that David had taken drugs the day of the murder, but did not say exactly what substance he had taken, or the role it may have played in his bizarre behavior. In a statement at David’s sentencing, the attorney noted the destructive effects drugs can have on society.

“It is certainly a tragedy for everybody involved in the situation and I think it highlights the dangers that drugs play in our society,” attorney Joseph Marcee told the court, via the Waco Tribune. “I certainly think that factored into everything and I think it is a tragedy.”

Authorities say Natasha Dauzat, 21, was stabbed multiple times with a knife at the couple’s home in Central Texas. https://t.co/IH4wGvBYi9

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 16, 2017

But Marcee also said he had no questions about David Dauzat’s sanity and his ability to stand trial. He noted that his client took responsibility for the murder and agreed to the plea deal.

David Dauzat will be eligible for parole in 26 years.