Actor Michael Jace, best known for playing Los Angeles cop Julien Lowe on FX's groundbreaking crime drama series The Shield, will likely be spending the rest of his life behind bars. The actor was sentenced to a term of 40 years to life for murdering his wife April back in May 2014. Michael Jace was convicted of second-degree murder last week, after the jury of six men and six women deliberated for less than three hours.

Michael Jace turned himself into the police shortly after fatally shooting his wife April, once in the back and two times in the legs. Prosecutors cited testimony from the couple's 10-year-old son, who testified that the actor told his wife, a former world-class sprinter, that "If you like running, then run to heaven" before firing the second shot, according to ABC 7. The actor's defense attorney, Jamon Hicks, argued that his client should be charged with voluntary manslaughter, since the crime wasn't pre-meditated and was done in the heat of passion.

Soon after the actor attacked his wife, Jace told detectives that he retrieved his gun to kill himself, but he couldn't go through with it. He then told them that he planned to shoot her in the leg, so she would feel pain. The actor had been in police custody ever since turning himself in back in 2014. Prosecutors argued that Michael Jace was upset because his wife wanted a divorce and he thought she was having an affair.

There was no evidence presented at the trial that suggested his wife was cheating on him. The actor's prison term includes a 15-to-life sentence for the murder and a 25-to-life sentence for the gun enhancement charge. The jury concluded that the actor did use a personal handgun in the murder. Before his sentence was handed down, Michael Jace said that there were "no justifications for my actions" and apologized to his late wife's family.

Michael Jace starred in all 89 episodes of FX's The Shield during its seven year run on FX between 2002 and 2008. Before the series, he had small roles in films such as Forrest Gump, Clear and Present Danger, the HBO TV movie Tyson, The Great White Hype, The Fan, Boogie Nights, The Replacements and Planet of the Apes. After The Shield went off the air, he starred in State of Play along with guest-starring spots in TV shows such as Rizzoli and Isles, CSI, Burn Notice, The Mentalist, Nikita, and most recently, Southland.