Ex-Fremont man gets 11 years in prison for wife's death

Risenburg pleaded guilty to giving her fatal dose of methadone

Jason Risenburg, 38, seen with attorney Jon Ickes, is sentenced today in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court in Fremont. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the April, 2012 death of Beth Spaulding Risenburg, 31.

FREMONT – A former Fremont man was sentenced today to 11 years in prison for giving his wife a fatal dose of methadone in 2012.

Jason Risenburg, 38, pleaded guilty Jan. 24 in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Beth Spaulding Risenburg, 31. The couple had been married since 1999.

Judge John Dewey imposed the 11-year sentence that was recommended as part of a plea agreement with Risenburg that came just days before he was scheduled to go to trial on charges of murder and corrupting another with drugs.

Ms. Spaulding Risenburg, a Northwood native, died unexpectedly in her sleep April 2, 2012 at the couple’s Fremont apartment.

She had a history of health problems, and her death initially was not suspicious. Toxicology testing done by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office later revealed a lethal level of methadone in her system.