A Southern California man was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison for the 2003 murder of his wife, whose severed legs were discovered in a San Diego dumpster.
Jack Potter, 72, was arrested for the killing of Laurie Potter in May 2021, nearly a year after the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office reopened the case using investigative genetic genealogy — technology that was not available during the initial investigation.
Investigators believe the victim was killed either on Oct. 4 or Oct. 5, 2003, NBC San Diego reported, citing a criminal complaint.
On Oct. 5, 2003, sheriff’s deputies responded to an apartment complex in Rancho San Diego, an unincorporated community about 20 miles east of downtown San Diego, after a worker reported finding body parts in a dumpster.
The Medical Examiner’s Office later identified the remains as a woman’s legs and ruled the death a homicide, though the preliminary cause of death could not be determined.
After investigators “exhausted all traditional avenues” of identifying the victim, the case went cold.
It wasn’t until December 2020 that investigators positively identified the victim as Potter’s 54-year-old wife after running the crime scene DNA through a national database.
Further investigation “revealed substantial and convincing evidence that Jack murdered Laurie,” officials said.
Potter was arrested on May 12, 2021. In February 2025, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted to smothering his wife to death.
On Friday, Potter apologized for his actions and said he loved his wife.
“I let my emotions get the better of me that one time,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t know why. It just happened and I’m sorry.”
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/05/03/san-diego-killed-wife-tossed-legs-dumpster/