The former Napier city councillor, Peter Beckett, has been found guilty of first-degree murder by a Canadian jury.
Laura Letts-Beckett Photo: Facebook
The Canadian media reports the 62-year-old has received an automatic life sentence and will spend at least 25 years in prison.
After four days of deliberation, a jury at the British Columbia Supreme Court found Beckett guilty of drowning his wife for financial gain.
The prosecution said he drowned Laura Letts-Beckett during an evening boat ride on a lake in 2010.
The prosecutor argued that Beckett's motive was to cash in on his wife's life insurance policy.
It was Beckett's second trial - the first ended with the jury unable to agree on a verdict.