Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe/AP.
A Massachusetts man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the 2016 death of Google employee Vanessa Marcotte.
Angelo Colon-Ortiz, 36, was sentenced to serve life in prison on Wednesday, according to astatementfrom the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.
Colon-Ortiz, who also pleaded guilty to unarmed robbery, will not be eligible for parole for 45 years, the DA’s office said.
“He will serve 20 years to 20 years and a day on the unarmed robbery charge and then will begin serving a life sentence for murder, which includes a minimum of 25 years before parole eligibility,” they wrote.
“The completion of this case is the result of the tireless and committed work of the Massachusetts State Police, Princeton Police and Assistant District Attorneys who were involved in the investigation and prosecution of Vanessa’s killer,” Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. noted. “We know nothing can bring Vanessa back, but we know, through the meticulous work of the prosecutors and investigators involved, justice will be served, and the plea allows Vanessa’s family to move on from this tragedy.”
After a months-long search, Colon-Ortiz was arrested in April 2017, and his DNA was collected.
According to NBC 10 Boston, Colon-Ortiz’s lawyers had argued that the samples were obtained illegally because police did not have a warrant.
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images.
Colon-Ortiz does not speak English, and his attorneys also argued that a consent form was not properly translated into Spanish, regarding his rights at the time.
The evidence collected from Colon-Ortiz matched DNA collected from Marcotte’s fingernails, and led investigators to identify the man as a suspect in her death, according to the outlet.
In January of this year, a judge allowed the DNA evidence to be used against the man in trial. He initially pled not guilty to the crimes, according to the outlet, but on Wednesday, he switched his plea to guilty to second-degree murder, a charge that carries a shorter sentence.
In court on Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Tavers said that law enforcement was able to determine that Colon-Ortiz forcibly took Marcotte’s cellphone, and he described her injuries during the attack.
Her mother, Rossana Marcotte, read a victim impact statement during the plea hearing.
“One thing I remember very clearly is the smile on her face as she left to go for her walk,” she said. “That is the last time I would see her lovely smile. When she smiled, I smiled. My heart was full.”
Marcotte, 27, was killed in August 2016. A New York City resident, she was visiting her mother in Princeton, Massachusetts, and had gone out for a walk on Sunday, Aug. 7. About seven hours after she left her mother’s home, her body was found.
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“We fully agree with this disposition and appreciate the District Attorney’s Office for reaching this resolution,” the Marcotte family said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are extremely thankful to the Massachusetts State Police Detectives, Princeton Police, Assistant District Attorneys and Victim Witness Advocate who worked to bring justice for Vanessa and who supported us throughout this process.”
“We are thankful and gratified the legal process has accomplished what we always wished for, that this man will now be in a place where he can’t hurt anyone else like the way he hurt Vanessa.”
source: people.com
