Massachusetts man who beheaded his classmate over a girl at age 15 gets life in prison
A Massachusetts man, who beheaded his classmate in a fit of jealousy over a girl in 2016, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
In May this year, 18-year-old Mathew Borges was found guilty of first-degree murder after he beheaded Manuel Villoria-Paulino, 16. The victim's headless body was found by a man walking his dog near the Merrimack River nearly a month after the brutal killing, Fox News reports.
At the time of the killing, Borges and Villoria-Paulino were both sophomores at Lawrence High School. Borges, who was 15 years old then, had told authorities that he had last seen his friend on November 18, 2016, when the two allegedly smoked marijuana together.
According to Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, Borges' crime was one of the worst the office ever prosecuted.
While Borges was given the maximum sentence under the law and after being tried as an adult, he was granted the possibility of parole as state law stipulates it is unconstitutional to sentence a teenager to life without parole. That said, he would be 45 years old during his first parole hearing.
Meanwhile, Katiuska Paulino, the victim's mother, begged the judge to impose the maximum sentence on her son's killer.
“There are no more dreams for the dreamer, the brother, the writer and the poet that was Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino… He has been the soul of this family since he was born,” she said. “We are the living dead after he was brutally ripped from our side.”
Blodgett said in a statement that Viloria-Paulino’s death was a “loss that simply cannot be measured.”
“His family will never celebrate his graduation or his birthday. They will never know what he would have become,” he said. “Understanding that there is no number of years that can restore this family’s loss, it is my hope that they can now find some peace.”
While Borges did not make any statements on Tuesday, his lawyer Hayden said Borges was following his advice so as not to compromise his appeal.
“He’s not irretrievably depraved,” Hayden said. “He was convicted of a horrific offense, but this is why juveniles are eligible for parole despite being convicted for first-degree murder.”