Husband will receive life sentence for wife's murder in 2023, Rockwall District Attorney says

A man was sentenced to life in prison in Rockwall County court for killing his wife, who divorced him after domestic violence, prosecutors said.

A jury found 38-year-old Corey Wayne Griffin guilty on Monday in connection with the death of 37-year-old Chelsie Griffin, the office said in a news release. In addition to the life sentence, he must pay a $10,000 fine. Online court records show he was convicted of aggravated assault in the family. Griffin's attorney, Wayne Lacy, said the case is being appealed and it is not appropriate to comment at this time.

“What the jury heard and saw is something they will not soon forget,” said Kerri New, the lead prosecutor in the case and head of the Rockwall District Attorney's Domestic Violence Unit. “With his egregiously evil act, the defendant sent shockwaves through our community that still resonate eighteen months later.”

Witnesses told the jury that Chelsie Griffin endured “years of infidelity” as well as psychological and physical abuse at the hands of her husband before separating from him in November 2022, prosecutors said.

Chelsie Griffin had filed for divorce in the weeks before her murder, ending her marriage of 17 years. A restraining order was in effect and a harassment charge had been filed the day of her death, prosecutors said.

On the morning of February 16, 2023, Corey Griffin was recorded on a neighbor's doorbell security camera entering the home he shared with his wife and their two children, where a court order forced him to move out, prosecutors said.

Chelsie Griffin Brother Brian Bishop testified that he was on the phone with her when she came home around noon and heard her screaming. The call was disconnected and Bishop called 911. Royse City officials responded to the home in the 2500 block of Perdenales Drive, near San Marcos Drive.

When officers arrived, they missed the fleeing Corey Griffin by less than a minute, prosecutors said.

Chelsie Griffin The body was found in the kitchen, and two hours later, Rockwall police arrested Corey Griffin in the parking lot of a marina on Lake Ray Hubbard. He was found covered in blood and asleep with a gun on his lap.

The coroner found that Chelsie Griffin suffered “severe trauma.” body, and there is evidence that she was strangled and shot. According to prosecutors, Corey Griffin admitted to pouring bleach on his wife's clothes, ripping the television off the wall, overturning furniture and cutting up artwork on the day of the murder.

“This case shows how dangerous domestic violence can be and how important it is [to] “Intervene early before violence escalates,” Rockwall County District Attorney Kenda Culpepper said in a written statement.

Chelsie Griffin was a “devoted mother” who looked at her children with such joy that it “blinded you,” an online obituary said. She had an “overwhelming” personality, was an animal lover and made friends everywhere she went.

“She loved unconditionally and without hesitation,” the obituary states.

Culpepper urged people and their friends who need help to contact law enforcement or community agencies such as Women in Need or the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.