Army Sergeant Gets 10 Year Sentence For Setting Wife's Legs On Fire

An Army sergeant has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for pouring lighter fluid on his wife and setting her legs ablaze. Sgt. Duane Rader was convicted March 6 of felony harassment, unlawful imprisonment and assault. He was found not guilty of attempted murder and tampering with a witness. His wife Heather Rader had testified that Duane Rader used the lighter fluid in an attempt to take her life. She said on the night of Feb. 13, 2011, she was awakened in her bedroom by her husband who was in a drunken rage. "He told me that I was evil and that he had a bullet he was going to put in my head," she testified. She said she tried to leave and as they were in the kitchen, she says he pushed her head into the floor and counter. She says she grabbed her car keys and purse. "Told me again that I was evil and had to die... and that's when he poured lighter fluid on my legs," Heather Rader said in court. "He lit a match, and sort of tossed it onto my legs. I was just laying there. I couldn't move in fear -- I was terrified. My legs lit on fire. I started screaming, and looked for a way to get the fire out." But when she called 911, she told dispatchers that she accidentally had lit her legs on fire while refilling a lighter. During the trial, she told the court she initially lied to police because her husband threatened to hurt her and her daughter if she told anyone what happened. The standard sentencing range was roughly four to five years, but the judge used an option to impose a longer sentence because there was a child present during the crime.