SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Kimberly Boone on Friday was sentenced to 35 years in prison, followed by 10 years probation, after a jury found her guilty of attempted murder and arson.
Boone, 46, of Winter Springs was convicted of arson and attempted murder in October.
Prosecutors said in 2008, she drugged her husband, Robert Boone, to put him to sleep and then set their bedroom on fire.
She was accused in a separate incident of shooting her husband in the chest and was acquitted in a trial in July 2010. The fire was ruled accidental at the time, but after she was accused of shooting her husband three months later, investigators began re-examining the house fire to determine if Boone could be responsible.
Boone's attorney argued the shooting was an accident and Boone mistook her husband as an intruder.
Prosecutors said during the trial Boone was desperate to collect $200,000 in life insurance.
Robert Boone didn't attend the sentencing Friday, but a letter from him was read, saying he still suffers from mental and emotional pain. He said he still has flashbacks and nightmares about trying to escape his home while it was on fire.
"He'll feel happy to hear the sentence and hopeful, as well as protection to society from her," said prosecutor Kelly Hines. "Hopefully they can have some closure on this for all the suffering they've been through at the hands of Kimberly Boone."
Boone's attorney, Francis Wesley Blanker, said his client wasn't surprised to learn her fate.
"I had her expecting the worst, the judge could have given her 45 years," Blanker said. "It's still a very harsh sentence."
Boone has 30 days to appeal her sentencing. She was ordered to have no contact with her husband as part of her sentence.
