Actress Amanda Hayes Sentenced In Gruesome Murder Case

Actress Amanda Hayes has been found guilty in connection to the gruesome murder of her husband's ex-girlfriend. INSIDE EDITION has the story.

Amanda Hayes is the actress at the center of a real-life courtroom drama. She apologized for the role she played in a gruesome murder case, but the victim's family says she hasn't stopped acting.

The father of the victim, Rodger Ackerson said, "She's a manipulator. She's a liar."

Forty-one-year-old Hayes appeared in The Sopranos and as a robotic wife in the 2004 Nicole Kidman movie The Stepford Wives. She's married to a musician, Grant Hayes.

Home video they posted on YouTube shows how they celebrated the birth of their daughter in 2011. But at the same time the video was taken, Grant Hayes was involved in a bitter custody battle with his former girlfriend over their two sons.

The ex, Laura Ackerson, went to the Hayes’ apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina, supposedly to discuss child support. When she got there, Grant murdered her. Then, incredibly, cut up her body with an electric power saw.

Prosecutors said Amanda helped Grant load the body parts into a U-Haul and drove 1,200 miles to Houston, Texas where they threw the remains into a creek.

Grant was convicted of first degree murder last year. Now, it's Amanda's turn to stand trial for murder.

She was asked, “Did you kill Laura?”

“No,” she replied.

She was then asked, “Did you help Grant kill her?”

“Absolutely not,” she said.

She admitted she helped dispose of Laura’s body, but claimed her husband threatened to slit her throat if she didn't.

Earlier this week, the verdict came in and she was found guilty of murder in the second degree.'

Amanda then stood to make her apology, saying, "I'm truly, truly sorry. With every ounce of my soul."

The sentence was swift. She got 13 to 16 years.