In all likelihood, Delta pilot Michael William Ellicott will spend the rest of his days in prison for brutally assaulting his wife in their Peachtree City home.

Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English Monday sentenced Ellicott, who is 48, to three consecutive life sentences, each of which he must serve a minimum of 25 years before being paroled. Ellicott was also sentenced to an additional 20 consecutive years in prison.

A jury convicted Ellicott late Friday afternoon of 13 of the 15 criminal counts against him: five counts of aggravated battery (family violence), four counts of aggravated assault (family violence), two counts of aggravated sodomy, one count of false imprisonment and one count of rape.

After Friday afternoon’s verdict and Michael Ellicott was led out of the courtroom, Pamela Ellicott melted into the arms of a friend, breaking down in tears as she reacted to the verdict.

At the sentencing hearing Monday, Judge English said the injuries he saw documented on photographs of Pamela Ellicott at the hospital following the Jan. 20 assault were so devastating, “I think you would have done your wife a favor to have just killed her.”

English said Pamela Ellicott “lived through a burning hell” at her husband’s expense, and he characterized her injuries as being the worst he has ever seen in his entire legal career.

“I’m still trying to figure out, in my little mind, what this poor young woman did to you to cause you to brutally and savagely almost kill her,” English said.

Among Pamela Ellicott’s injuries were two broken wrists, one of which she recalled hearing as it broke when she deflected a blow from her husband that was meant for her head.

The jury was shown photographs of the deep, severe bruising over several parts of Pamela Ellicott’s body including her genital area and also of a severe injury to her buttocks. Pamela Ellicott also testified that her husband forced her to participate in deviant sexual acts against her will.

Pamela Ellicott told the jury that she fled the couple’s home Jan. 20 despite her husband’s threats to hunt her down and kill her if she ever told police about the beatings he gave her. She said that she felt if she hadn’t gone for help at that time, “I would not be alive today.”

English also referenced Mr. Ellicott’s use of drumsticks to beat his wife during the assaults. When the jury voted Friday afternoon to convict him, a different drumbeat began, “because that drumbeat represents the death of a monster, and that’s you, Mr. Ellicott,” English said.

English also characterized the defendant, dressed Monday in an orange jail jumpsuit, as “a control freak” who will now have his life controlled for him in prison.

At times during his lecture, English castigated Michael Ellicott for his conduct during the trial.

“For you to say that you loved her and that you did not want a divorce from her, what a charade!” English said.

The judge also pointed out that Michael Ellicott smiled and laughed during the trial despite the serious nature of the allegations against him.

“I don’t think you ever thought for a second that you were going to be convicted,” English said.

English said Michael Ellicott’s conduct not only besmirched himself but also his coworkers at Delta Air Lines where he flew large jets and the U.S. military in which he trained on an F-15 fighter jet.

Prior to sentencing, Michael Ellicott’s sister told the court their family has a history of mental illness, and that she felt it may have played a role in why the assaults occurred.

The three life sentences with the minimum 25-year prison service requirement are the minimum allowed under Georgia law for the charge of rape and aggravated sodomy.

Prior to sentencing, Ellicott attorney Don Samuel asked the court to have the sentences run concurrently, meaning they would be served at the same time.

But English, after his lecture, chose to impose the consecutive sentences instead, meaning they must be served one after the other.