Former ad exec sentenced to 70 years for kidnapping wife Richard Shenkman, the former ad executive whose firm produced Gayle King's 1990s TV show, was sentenced Wednesday to 70 years in prison for kidnapping his ex-wife at gunpoint and holding her hostage for hours before burning down their Connecticut home during a dramatic police standoff in 2009. Shenkman, 62, was convicted in October of kidnapping, arson, assault, threatening and other charges. He could have face 90 years in prison, NBC station WVIT of Hartford reported. Shenkman's attorney asked Hartford Superior Court Judge Julia Dewey to delay sentencing so Shenkman could undergo psychiatric evaluations, but Dewey denied the motion. The Hartford Courant reported that Shenkman made a rambling statement to the court and laughed when Dewey also ordered him to pay $100,000 to his ex-wife, Nancy Tyler. The case drew national coverage in 2009 both because of its unusual nature and because Shenkman's advertising firm, Primedia, produced King's talk show in 1997. King, widely known as Oprah Winfrey's best friend, is now co-host of "CBS This Morning." The Courant recounts the case: Shenkman kidnapped his former wife, Nancy Tyler, from Hartford July 7, 2009, took her to the home they once shared at 96 Tumblebrook Drive in South Windsor, handcuffed Tyler to himself and threatened to kill her several times. At times, he asked for a priest to administer last rites to Tyler. He also asked for a marriage license so that the priest could remarry them. About 12 hours into the standoff, while Shenkman was distracted by a police robot, Tyler managed to escape. Shenkman then set the house on fire, jurors found. The house was in flames when Shenkman emerged near midnight and was taken into custody by SWAT officers who had surrounded the house. Shenkman still faces trial on charges that he set fire to Tyler's home in East Lyme in March 2007. Read the full Hartford Courant story