A Guyanese man, who bludgeoned his wife to death in October 2008 in Schenectady, New York, yesterday pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is expected to be sentenced to 15 years in prison next month.

Yetraj Mangar

Jaiwanti Mangar

According to the Times Union, Yetraj ‘James’ Mangar, pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter in exchange for prosecutors dropping the second-degree murder charge, which carries a 25-years-to-life sentence, and on which he was indicted. The report said the frail-looking, 61-year-old man, who has been in county jail since he was arrested in October 2008, will be sentenced to 15 years in prison on February 25.

Reports are that the Guyanese couple had a history of domestic problems, and on the day Jaiwanti Mangar was found dead there were no signs of forced entry at the Division Street apartment they shared with their two adult sons and the men’s wives.

Sister Satie, as the 56-year-old woman was affectionately known, died of a fractured skull and brain injuries from blunt force trauma on October 25, 2008.

Several days after the crime, his cousin told the Times Union that Mangar had told him that he struck his sleeping wife with the back of a hatchet.

Mangar had wanted to return to Guyana while his wife wanted to remain in the USA.  The couple had migrated to the USA in 2000.