LONG BEACH, CA -- A millionaire was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for hiring someone to kill his estranged wife so he wouldn't have to split the couple's fortune.

Manfred Schockner's wife was stabbed to death in 2004 as police responding to a prowler call stood outside her home. A man later convicted of killing Lynn Schockner said he was offered $5,000 to kill the woman and stage a burglary.

During his sentencing Thursday in Long Beach Superior Court, Schockner, 67, suggested that police could have stopped the attack.

"Had they followed proper procedures, my wife would be alive today," Schockner said.

Superior Court Judge Gary Ferrari scolded Schockner and denied the defense's request for a new trial.

"This case is all about you. It's all about your insatiable greed," Ferrari said. "You could have walked away from that marriage a millionaire. You had to have it all, so you had your wife's throat slit, and, just as bad, you made your son an orphan."

Prosecutors said Schockner didn't want to split at least $3.5 million in community property with his wife.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)