Southern Iowa woman sentenced to life in prison for killing husband

A south-central Iowa woman convicted in September of killing her husband has been sentenced to life in prison.

The Daily Iowegian reports that 47-year-old Barbara Pasa, of Centerville, received the mandatory life sentence on Friday.

A jury convicted Pasa of arson and first-degree murder. The badly burned body of 50-year-old Tim Pasa was found in a bed on May 5, 2018, and investigators determined the fire at the Centerville home was started intentionally. An autopsy determined his death was related to an injection of an anesthetic, propofol.

Barbara Pasa was a nurse at a Centerville hospital at the time of her husband’s death.

Investigators say she had bought a $200,000 life insurance policy on her husband. He had also told family members he believed his wife was poisoning him.