10 to Life for Woman in Professional Poker Player Slaying

A Nevada woman has been sentenced to 10 years to life in prison for the 2007 stabbing death of her husband, a professional poker player.

Las Vegas media has reported that Jill Rockcastle, 50, received this sentence on Tuesday, which was handed down by Clark County District Court Judge Michael Villani.
With a no contest plea entered by Rockcastle on September 16, 2008, she avoided trial and acknowledged that the prosecutor had enough evidence for a guilty verdict. She was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of her husband, William Gustafik, a former chiropractor turned Vegas poker pro.
Joseph Abood, Rockcastle’s public defender portrayed her as a battered wife who acted in self defense when she stabbed Gustafik 15 times after he allegedly grabbed her by the hair. Although Prosecutor Sam Bateman said there was no evidence to show that Gustafik was violent towards his wife.
Gustafik’s body was found by police on April 13, 2007 in a 23rd florr condo at the Panorama Towers on the Las Vegas Strip.
Several days later, Rockcastle was arrested in a motel in San Luis Obispo, California after an apparent drug overdose.
According to tournament records, Gustafik won a total of $165,597 in his career playing in poker tourneys in Vegas and California. His biggest payday,$80,000, came when he finished tenth in a World Poker Tour event in San Jose, California, USA, in 2006.
Gustafik’s biggest claim to fame, however, was finishing in 280th place at the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas in 2006, earning $38,759.

News Added: 25 November, 2008

Number of views : 981