David Laffer Gets Life Without Parole, Wife Gets 25 Years In Medford Pharmacy Massacre
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – Life in prison without parole. That's the sentence for David Laffer, the man who executed four people at Haven pharmacy in Medford on Father's Day.
Laffer, 33, and his wife Melinda Brady were both sentenced Thursday in Suffolk County.
Laffer pleaded guilty in September to all charges of committing first-degree murder and robbing the pharmacy of thousands of prescription pills.
He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms for the deaths of each of the victims plus an umbrella charge for multiple murders.
1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reports
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He seemed to show no remorse as family members addressed the court prior to sentencing.
CBS 2's John Slattery reports a couple dozen distraught and angry family members showed up to see the killer of their loved ones face-to-face at sentencing. Five rows of seats in the courtroom were filled with relatives of the four victims.
"He is a coward. He has no soul,'' said the grandmother of victim Jamie Taccetta, Mary Moran. She later turned to Laffer and said "Burn in hell."
WCBS 880's Sophia Hall: Laffer Ordered To Solitary Confinement
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Laffer also addressed the court.
"I know that it doesn't begin to explain or excuse my horrific actions that day. However, if a discussion and recognition of prescription pill abuse and doctor shopping will be generated among the public, then maybe something beneficial can come from this,'' he said.
He also spoke to the victims' families. "To ask for forgiveness from them would be a selfish act,'' he said.
Laffer's attorny, Eric Naiburg said, "It didn't appear he was remorseful. Whether he is or not, I have no idea."
Judge James Hudson recommended that Laffer be placed in solitary confinement for his entire sentence.
Brady was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
She also pleaded guilty in September to robbery charges in connection with the June 19 hold-up of the Medford pharmacy.
She was sobbing and tearful as she listened to families' impact statements to the court.
"I wish the death penalty was in the State of New York because I would sit there and watch them both take their last breath," said Taccetta's brother Daniel Taccetta.
"She should've got what he got where she will never walk on this Earth again and stay in prison for the rest of her life too," John Brown, Taccetta's uncle, said.
Before she was sentenced to the maximum 25 years, she gave a statement to the court expressing sorrow for the families.
"That awful day that will haunt me for the rest of my life," she said.
But Judge Hudson called her remorse insincere, saying "You're more sorry for yourself than for the victims.''
Brady admitted to helping plan the robbery and driving the getaway car, but claimed she didn't know the plan would involve killing.
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said the guilty pleas spared the grieving families from having to endure the drama of a drawn out trial.
Killed were 45-year-old pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, Jennifer Mejia, a 17-year-old store clerk due to graduate high school days later, Jamie Taccetta, a 33-year-old mother of two who was planning her wedding, and 71-year-old Bryon Sheffield, who was picking up medication for his wife. Sheffield and his wife were planning their 50th wedding anniversary in July.
Assistant District Attorney John Collins had called the shootings "the most cold-blooded robbery-homicide in Suffolk County history."
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