By Kim Bell From St. Louis Post-Dispatch

TOWN AND COUNTRY • William Lynn Gunter first told police he found his unconscious and severely injured wife after she apparently fell down a stairway in their Town and Country home in March 2013. She died later that day at a hospital.

On Monday, Gunter changed his version of events and pleaded guilty in St. Louis County Circuit Court of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Gunter, who goes by Lynn, admitted in court that he murdered his wife, Suzanne “Suzy” Ball Gunter by beating her to death with a laptop. She had nine large lacerations on her head and a broken wrist, said Ed Magee, an assistant to Prosecutor Robert McCulloch.

“He had a girlfriend and he had money problems,” Magee said. “And she (his wife) had all the money.”

Lynn Gunter, 61, will be eligible for a parole hearing when he is about 72 years old, said his attorney, John Rogers.

Suzy Gunter was 55 when she died. Magee said she had more than $1 million between savings and life insurance benefits, but that Lynn Gunter got none of that because of the court case.

Lynn Gunter’s booking sheet listed his employer and occupation as AHM insurance agent. According to his LinkedIn page, he is vice president of AHM Financial Group.

Before his wife’s death, Lynn Gunter had lost a civil suit over his dealings as an insurance broker with a previous employer, Huntleigh McGehee. The company said Gunter and another former employee didn’t pay its share of commission owed on a number of clients and that they essentially stole clients when they moved on. Court records show that Gunter was ordered to pay the company $167,389.

On the afternoon of March 18, 2013, Suzy Gunter was found at the bottom of a stairway at the Gunter home in the 1500 block of Mason Hill Court. Neigbors said Lynn Gunter had called them and they arrived to find Suzy Gunter injured. They called 911. The neighbors said Lynn Gunter appeared devastated and too upset to ride with his wife in the ambulance, so they gave him a ride to the hospital.

That day, Lynn Gunter told police he found her after she apparently had fallen down the stairs, but police said autopsy results didn’t match that story. He was charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors amended the charge, dropping the charge to second-degree murder, on Monday in the plea deal.

Suzy Gunter was the mother of two daughters, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Magee said the daughters and other relatives of Suzy Gunter knew about the plea agreement and were happy with it. “Nobody wanted to put the girls through a trial,” Magee said.

Suzy Gunter’s older sister, Kathy Ball Laesch, said the family had declined to make a statement publicly about the case until now.

“We are relieved it’s been solved and he’s going to prison to pay for all that he’s done,” she said.

Suzy Gunter was a former Indiana University cheerleader and an avid tennis player and dog lover, according to her obituary. She volunteered with the Parkway School District and the city of Town and Country, where she served on the city’s community relations commission that puts out newsletters about community events.

Rogers, Lynn Gunter’s attorney, said one of the reasons Gunter made the plea deal with prosecutors was so his daughters would not have to sit through a trial or testify. The trial was set for Nov. 3. When their mother died, one of the daughters was still in college; the other had graduated. The Gunters had been married about 30 years.

Rogers said Lynn Gunter will be eligible for a parole hearing after he has served 40 percent of his sentence and reached the age of 70. Rogers said his client will get credit for time he’s already served in jail. Health is one factor the Board of Probation and Parole considers for early release, Rogers said.

Jennifer Mann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

IMAGE: Suzy Gunter and William Lynn Gunter

For more on this story go to: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/town-and-country-man-admits-beating-wife-to-death-with/article_fce19878-10c9-5191-8159-5c6cadd397e4.html