DALTON, Ga. — A Dalton man who pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of his wife was sentenced in Superior Court to 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

Bertram Gerome Beck, 44, formerly of 902 Straight St.-2, also pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault,

aggravated stalking and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon following two incidents of domestic abuse, one on Feb. 3, 2017, and the second on Dec. 8, 2017, according to District Attorney Bert Poston. Beck was facing trial for both. His time in prison will be followed by 30 years on probation.

In the first incident, Beck “strangled” his wife, Heather Griffin, twice and also hit her in the face, “causing visible injuries,” Poston said in a press release. He also strangled their dog.

In the second incident, Beck, who was out of jail on bond for the first incident, “returned to the victim’s home in violation of bond conditions, kicked open the door and entered the residence while pointing a handgun at her,” Poston said. “He told her he was ‘ready to go’ and shot her twice, once in the shoulder and once in the abdomen. A friend of the victim, Patricia Jones, was present and Beck struck her in the head with the gun as she was attempting to protect Ms. Griffin.”

Beck was arrested on Dec. 12, 2017, after Cobb County police located him in Smyrna after acting on a tip from Whitfield County on his location. Beck was charged by the Cobb County Police Department with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and giving false information to law enforcement after he twice gave fake names and fake dates of birth when police took him into custody.

Poston said Beck has a “history of felony drug convictions and other charges, including fleeing from law enforcement, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor assaults as well as parole and probation violations between 1990 and 2010. He has served time in prison on five prior occasions. Because of the three prior felony convictions, Beck will not be eligible for parole during the 20-year prison portion of his sentence.”

Beck was sentenced by Judge Scott Minter. The prosecutor was Assistant District Attorney Susan Beck (no relation).