Former Police Instructor Gets Life Term for Killing Wife

Set house on fire to cover evidence

KINGMAN, Kan. — Unrepentant and unapologetic, a former Kansas police instructor was sentenced Monday to life in prison for the April 2011 shooting death of his wife.

Minutes before Brett Seacat was sentenced, he delivered a courtroom rant accusing the judge of helping to convict him by hiding evidence that proves his innocence.

Accusations of family abuse, multiple suicide attempts, and life insurance payouts — all kept out of the murder trial — got an airing at the sentencing in the high-profile case.

Seacat was convicted in June of shooting 34-year-old Vashti Seacat days after she filed for divorce, then setting fire to their house to cover evidence. Investigators found her charred body in the Kingman home where the couple lived with their two sons, ages 2 and 4. Seacat, a former instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Reno County and former Sedgwick County deputy, escaped with the boys.