Nannette Johnston, who also goes by Nannette Packard, was convicted in 2012 of killing her wealthy boyfriend William McLaughlin in 1994. She was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of special circumstance murder for financial gain.
Prosecutors says Johnston lived off of McLaughlin for four years. Authorities say she took out a $1-million life insurance policy on McLaughlin and convinced her lover, former NFL player Eric Naposki, to shoot McLaughlin at the victim's Newport Beach home. Johnston wanted to prevent McLaughlin from finding out about Naposki, and provided him with the house key to McLaughlin's home.
Naposki was also convicted in the case in 2011 and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
McLaughlin was shot six times in his kitchen. His son heard the shots, found his father's body and dialed 911.
The life sentence brings some closure to the family.
"I wish he could have stayed with us longer, and that God would have chosen his time to leave, rather than a person with a gun and a greedy heart," said daughter Jenny McLaughlin.
But McLaughlin's daughters say true justice won't be done until Naposki is also sentenced.
Authorities said a day before the murder, Johnston wrote a check for $250,000 from one of McLaughlin's accounts and deposited it in her account. Several years later, Johnston was charged with grand theft for stealing close to $500,000 from McLaughlin's account before and after his murder. Johnston pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in jail.
McLaughlin's murder investigation went cold until it was reopened and charges were filed in 2009.
