FORT WORTH -- A man with a history of violence against women was sentenced to 60 years in prison Thursday for holding his ex-girlfriend hostage and threatening to kill her.
Gilbert Grimaldo, 43, was convicted of breaking into his ex-girlfriend's apartment and holding a knife to her throat while her three children, 13, 6 and 4, watched.Grimaldo dragged the woman into the kitchen and threatened to kill her with a butcher knife if she did not reconcile with him, according to a news release from the Tarrant County district attorney's office. She escaped by jumping off her second-floor balcony.Moments later, the woman's 13-year-old son, wielding a golf club, chased Grimaldo out of the apartment. A neighbor who is a Navy reservist apprehended Grimaldo and held him until police arrived.When he was 16, Grimaldo was convicted of murder for holding down a man while he was stabbed. He served 18 years of a 25-year sentence.Witnesses testified that Grimaldo was verbally and physically abusive to two other women before he attacked his ex-girlfriend.A jury deliberated about two hours before reaching a guilty verdict.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
