Judge: Life In Prison Without Parole For 'Cold-Blooded' Morningside Heights Triple Murderer
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A man convicted in a drug-related triple murder in Morningside Heights has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, Judge Thomas Farber handed down the toughest sentence of his career to Roberto Nunez, 32.
Nunez was convicted last month of fatally shooting three men in a parked car on West 122 Street on June 7, 2012.
Judge: Life In Prison Without Parole For 'Cold-Blooded' Morningside Heights Triple Murderer
The courtroom was packed with the emotional families of the three young men who were executed by the drug dealer.
Nunez sat in the back seat of a BMW and shot Amaury Rodriguez, 30; Heriberto Suazo, 26; and Louis Catalan, 25, at close range with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, prosecutors successfully argued.
Prosecutors successfully argued Nunez's motive was greed.
"In mere seconds, Roberto Nunez committed 14 percent of the shooting homicides in Manhattan last year," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. "Incidents like this are eerily reminiscent of a time in New York when violent crime was more common, but today New York is safer than ever before. Prosecutors in my office will continue to root out the drivers of violent crime, because a crime prevented is far better than one prosecuted. I thank the jury for its service on this case and I commend the judge for handing down an appropriate sentence."
Judge Farber told spectators he is not one of those who give fiery sentencing speeches.
"I've seen horrendous crimes," he said "and never before imposed a sentence that would guarantee life in prison."
But he said this was a case of "a cold-blooded triple homicide. It compels a sentence of life without possibility of parole."
The courtroom erupted in cheers and the victims' mothers wept when the sentence was announced, Cornell reported.
Nunez was convicted of three counts each of first-degree and second-degree murder for the shootings.
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