Man gets 10 years for trying to blow up wife

BELLEVILLE -- A Belleville man has received a 10-year prison sentence for attempting to blow up his wife and 5-year-old daughter in May 2008.

A St. Clair County judge handed down the sentence Monday against 45-year-old Gary Smith, who was convicted of two counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful restraint.

Prosecutors say Smith was angry at his wife, Darlene, because she admitted having an affair, so he duct-taped her and tied her to a kitchen cabinet, then turned on the gas in their stove. Smith left their daughter in the kitchen, too.

After several hours, Darlene Smith wriggled out of the bindings, grabbed her daughter and fled to a neighbor. The house exploded moments later, damaging a number of other houses in a three-block radius.