Bucks County man to serve 35 to 70 years in prison for killing ex-girlfriend

A Bucks County man who fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend after a bitter breakup last summer was sentenced Tuesday to 35 to 70 years in prison, authorities said.

William H. Table, 46, who had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, repeatedly apologized for killing Teresa Priestly, 43, of Bensalem, whose friends and neighbors described her as unfailingly kind and dedicated to her family.

On the morning of July 9, authorities said, Table went to Priestly’s home at the Village Square Apartments, where he had lived with her until she ended the years-long relationship over his violent behavior and drug use. They argued and she got into her car to leave, but, police said, Table smashed the passenger-side window to try to get in.

Just before 7 a.m., Priestly called 911 and screamed into the phone that Table was trying to kill her. Three minutes later, dispatchers received a call that a Kia sedan had jumped a curb and crashed on the 3100 block of Hulmeville Road. Witnesses said they saw a man flee from the car.

Priestly was found dead from multiple stab wounds in her car. Table was arrested hours later at a homeless camp in Philadelphia.

At Table’s sentencing, Judge Brian T. McGuffin lamented the Priestly family’s “profound loss.”

“This didn’t have to happen,” he said.