72 year old man gets 9 to 12 years for "manslaughter" of wife, stabbed 45 times

A 72 year old Cape Cod man was sentenced to 9 to 12 years in prison yesterday for stabbing his wife 45 times with a kitchen knife before she bled to death in front of a neighbor's porch. Seventy-two year old William Romero Sr. of  Pocasset, MA, who plead guilty in September, was sentenced for a single count of manslaughter and 20 years of probation for to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60 by Judge Richard Connon.

First Assistant District Attorney Brian Glenny asked for a sentenced of 18 to 20 years, while Romero's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, asked for 6 to 8 years. Judge Connon, after reading Romero's evaluation at Taunton State Hospital and other background information, decided that "age is not a defense - You can't turn your back on someone who commits the most serious of crimes."

Because Romero was found to have a substance abuse problem, his probation conditions, if he lives to get out of prison, will require no drug or alcohol use. However, the defendant, acknowledged to be in poor health, may find prison difficult at his age. "He's at the end of his life and that's a difficult way for him to finish his life." Judge Connon said. "The thing is," he added, "if he does survive, where is he going to go when he gets out?"

He might be able to stay with his son, William Romero Jr.

Romero's son, William Romero Jr., was too distraught to even stay for the hearing, Reddington told the judge. He had recommended a lesser sentence than his sisters in his impact statement, the lawyer said. Connon said he took those into account, as well as the test results from the hospital, in making his decision.
 
Romero's daughter, Sharon Durkin, shook her head as the sentence was read. She broke into hysterics as Romero was led out of the courtroom.

"We were not pleased with the judge's verdict today and we felt that justice had not been served," Durkin said of herself and her sister, Margaret, in a phone interview later yesterday. The sisters wanted to see their father sent away for the maximum 20 years.

Whatever happens to his client, according to Romero's lawyer, Romero's children will have lost both of their parents due to one selfish act. "I know that they love their father, but they certainly loved their mother," Reddington said.