Benjamin Hankins will serve time for the June 3, 2011, murder of his estranged wife, 32-year-old Lisa "Nettie" Hankins.

Hankins' sentencing was originally planned for May 10, but Judge Alan Wilson declared a recess after Hankins gave a rambling 49-minute statement, which prompted Wilson to request a mental health examination for the defendant prior to sentencing.

The rant, in which Hankins both apologized to and condemned his victim's family, "made a better argument for a maximum sentence than I ever could,” Deputy Prosecutor Zachary Craig said.