Socal Man sentenced to jail for killing his wife, throwing his legs into the trash
Prosecutors say Jack Potter cheated on his dead wife, who was cheated, found his dead wife in a 2003 San Diego garbage dumpster, his legs were found but still alive.
One of the most disturbing cold cases in the area came to the conclusion Friday when Jack Potter, 72, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering his wife Laurie Potter.
Prosecutors said Porter pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted to suffocating his 54-year-old wife to death.
Laurie Potter found his legs in a trash in 2003.
(San Diego County Sheriff)
Prosecutors said that for nearly 20 years, Porter made a living from Laurie’s death while pretending he was still alive. Prosecutors said he deceptively opened a credit card under her name and used the Family Court to sell the house in Temecula and took it away for the profit.
Prosecutors said he met a new girlfriend at a strip club and gave her a Hummer SUV and a ski boat, rented an apartment and gave her a credit card with a $30,000 limit. My girlfriend shared his wife’s name very much.
Porter expressed remorse, apologized and said he loved his wife at a hearing on Friday.
“I made my mood better,” he said. “I don’t know why. It just happened, sorry.”
A maintenance worker at the Country Hill Apartment Building in Rancho City, San Diego found Laurie’s leg in October 2003, but law enforcement could not identify her and the case was not resolved.
Until 2020, new DNA investigation technology led to a breakthrough in plaguing cold cases. Detectives ran the crime scene DNA through the national database and matched it with distant relatives.
The detective then gradually asked closer relatives to share their DNA until 20 people and six months later – they arrived at Laurie’s adult son. His sample enables them to identify Laurie and subsequent investigations, which links her husband to crime, according to a 2021 press release from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
When Porter was arrested in 2021, Laurie’s family, while not aware of their whereabouts, still believed they were alive, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that she had never encountered missing, without genetic testing (the same technology used to identify Golden State killers and dozens of cold cases), the murder may not be resolved.
Laurie’s son, John Carlson, said at a sentencing hearing in Porter that he had lost contact with his mother but tried to contact her and renew their relationship.
Carlson said Porter told him his mother “just want to be alone, unfortunately I believe it. It’s really painful.”
Laurie’s case marks the first time the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office has attempted to use the investigation genealogy to identify murder victims.
San Diego County District, “This case is a clear reminder that the pursuit of justice will never stop.” Artie. Summer Stephen said in a statement Friday. “The grief of those who lost someone’s violence is not the case. Today, we respect Laurie’s memory and stand with our family in a long-awaited moment of justice.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
