Man sentenced to death for 2014 murder of estranged wife

A man accused of planning and carrying out the killing of his estranged wife more than five years ago was sentenced in court on Thursday.

According to prosecutors, Edward McCauley outlined his plans to kill his wife in journals and calendars before he shot and killed her back in 2014. He wrote down in one entry on November 4 that he would kill Dawn McCauley in 19 days.

November 23 was marked "Judgment Day", and six minutes after midnight on November 24, Dawn was shot and killed outside of her Glendale home.

Edward reportedly sent text messages to her family, telling them he did it.

Edward McCauley

On Thursday, Edward was unanimously sentenced to death by a jury, because of the crime.

Edward's niece, Christie, says Edward changed after bouts with depression. She says her family was hoping for a life sentence.

"That wasn't his way," said Christie. "Prior to 2012, that wasn't who he was. He had a snap in life with some kind of depression, PTSD, something like that. That wasn't who he was beforehand."

Christie also offered an apology to Dawn's family.

"I apologize," said Christie. "I would take it back if I could. I would change the whole situation. It's basically a bomb that's exploded. Both sides hurt, and I don't want any side to hurt."

Members of Dawn's family did not want to talk following the verdict, but one of the family members did tell FOX 10's Matt Galka that they wanted to give all of the credit of the verdict to their attorney.