A Nova Scotia man who admitted to killing his wife has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years.

Last week, Patrick Chareka pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Ottilia Chareka, an education professor at St. Francis Xavier University.

Police were called to the couple’s home in March 2011. The 42-year-old woman died after she was repeatedly hit in the head with a hammer while she slept with the youngest of their five children.

The 50-year-old man was originally charged with first-degree murder in the case but before his judge-and-jury trial was scheduled to get underway last week, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.

Crown attorney Darlene Oko says the Chareka children were a major factor in agreeing to a guilty plea of second-degree murder.

“One of the children saw the act being committed upon her mother so she would have been a necessary witness and we wanted to spare them going through that ordeal,” says Oko. “They’ve been through enough.”

The court was told the couple arrived to teach at the university in 2004 but while Ottilia became a tenured professor within five years, her husband was let go.

Their traditional roles changed, financial pressures mounted and Ottilia told police and a local women’s shelter she feared for her life.

“Patrick Chareka committed the murder on Ottilia because he was angry and he wanted revenge,” says Oko. “He wanted retribution for what he perceived as his wife excelling where he was not, and that culturally was not acceptable to him.”

It’s a mixed bag of circumstances,” says defence attorney Gerald MacDonald. “He was diagnosed as having some delusional issues, which aggravated anger and caused the whole thing to erupt the way it did.”

Chareka’s eldest daughter has had some contact with her father. Missy Chareka, 24, declined to speak with reporters.

“There’s been a profound impact on this family, as the judge said, it’s destroyed the family unit,” says Oko. “They lost both their parents that night. They witnessed the horror of what happened in the home.”

The four other Chareka children remain in the care of the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services.

Their father is prohibited from having any contact with them.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh