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Husband Gets 30-Year Term In Shooting

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By TODD LESKANIC

tleskanic@tampatrib.com

Published: October 25, 2008

  Keith Lane

NEW PORT RICHEY - Keith Lane rambled on for 10 minutes, trying to convince Circuit Judge Thane Covert that he was worthy of mercy.

Lane, a former police officer, called himself a good man, a good father and a good husband. He said he fired a gun at his wife of 43 years on March 28, 2006, because he was on high doses of prescription medications, not because he wanted to kill her.

Last month, a jury deliberated for only an hour before finding Lane guilty of attempted murder. The 65-year-old returned to court for sentencing Friday but didn't find Covert in a merciful mood. And Lane's attempt to sway the judge only seemed feeble once Covert gave the defendant his thoughts on the case.

"This is a woman who lived with you and under domination for 40 years," Covert said. "Forty years of your controlling manipulation and domination such that she wouldn't even fight back against you. You are a textbook example of an abuser, that's all you are. You're not apologetic for anything you have done."

With that, Covert sentenced Lane to 30 years in prison. State law requires that he remain incarcerated for a minimum of 20 years.

Lane's wife, Karen, opted not to speak at the hearing and declined to comment afterward.

Trial testimony and court documents showed, however, that she lived with her husband's abuse for years. At times, he would put a gun to her head, call her names and beat her, records state.

But Karen Lane told no one, not even a friend.

By 2006, the Lanes were on the verge of a divorce as Keith Lane's tirades continued. The day before the shooting, the couple had gone to an attorney to start the proceedings. When they arrived back at their waterfront home in Hudson, Keith Lane exploded in anger, records show.

At trial, Karen Lane testified that she left the house and went to stay at a second house the couple owned, this one on Tapestry Drive in Port Richey. The following night, her husband drove to the house and stormed through the front door. Karen Lane testified that he pushed and kicked her throughout the house.

At one point he pinned her to a wall and said, "This is it for you," according to testimony.

Karen Lane broke away and ran out the front door. She testified that she glanced back to see whether her husband was following and saw him raising a gun to aim. At the same time, she heard him say, "You're dead."

A gunshot followed.

The shot missed. Karen Lane ran to a neighbor's house, where the authorities were called. Keith Lane was arrested the same day.

Friday, he refused to acknowledge any culpability.

"I don't know what to say, and I hate to say this, but it never would have happened if I wasn't taking 12 oxycodone and Xanax," he said. "I hate to present that here because I don't like blaming it on a doctor, it just doesn't work. I'm a good man, and I would not hurt anybody.

"My wife knows that. That's why she doesn't want me out."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084.

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