Washington state man gets 16 years for beating his pregnant wife to death

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TACOMA, Wash. -- A Tacoma man who beat a pregnant woman and mother of four to death at their home last year was sentenced to prison Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court.

Ian Sweeney was sentenced to 16 years, five months in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Stephanie Chaipis, The News Tribune reported.

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Chaipis, 27, suffered head trauma and a possible skull fracture during the Jan. 10, 2021 attack. The woman was placed on life support and died a week later.

Prosecutors had requested that Sweeney receive a sentence of 14 years, 5 months in prison. Friends and family of Chaipis said that wasn’t enough.

Debra Mattson said she raised Chaipis as a daughter alongside her own after Chaipis’ mother died.

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"To let him out of prison in such a short time is endangering any other woman that may fall prey to him in the future," Mattson wrote in a victim impact statement.

In his guilty plea, Sweeney admitted to intentionally assaulting Chaipis.

Ian Sweeney, 32, was sentenced to 16 years, five months in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Stephanie Chaipis. (Pierce County Superior Court)

According to court records, he told police he had used methamphetamine and began questioning his wife’s "devotion and commitment" before he attacked her.

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An autopsy found Chaipis’ cause of death was blunt force trauma.

In a victim impact statement, a childhood friend of Chaipis, Charlotte Droescher, described her as a person with "boundless passion and enthusiasm."