Golden – Michael Fitzgerald will be 64 years old before he’s eligible for parole on a 62-year prison sentence for his father’s death in 2004.
“This is the most tragic of cases where the defendant is the son and the victim is the father,” said Jefferson County District Court Judge Jane Tidball as she passed sentence Thursday3/15.
Steven Fitzgerald, 41, bled to death in his Westminster garage after he was hit on the head with a posthole digger and stabbed several times.
Also charged in the murder is Michael Tate, 18, who prosecutors say wielded the knife.
Michael Fitzgerald, 20, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder and second-degree burglary as part of a plea agreement with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office to testify against Tate.
Tate’s trial is set for Aug. 20.
The two boys then 17 and 16 and runaways from county custody broke into the Fitzgerald home to steal a car, documents said. Steven Fitzgerald apparently surprised the teens.
“I love you guys with all my heart,” Michael Fitzgerald told his mother, Kris, and sister, Jessica, after saying several times how “truly sorry” he was.
“I hope they will talk to me again some day and we can be a family again some day,” Michael Fitzgerald said. “I regret what happened to my dad every day.”
Members of his family asked for a life sentence behind bars.
“Even an eternity truly wouldn’t be enough time,” Kris Fitzgerald said. “It won’t bring back a father, or a husband, or a brother.”
Kris Fitzgerald looked at her son, who showed little emotion but wiped his eyes as photos of his father were projected on a screen, and said, “Mostly, I want to know why.”
Jessica Fitzgerald spoke of nightmares about her father’s murder, only to awake to the reality of losing “my hero, my father, my best friend.”
“All he ever did was love him, and hoped he would turn around,” Jessica said of Michael. “You caused all this pain to all these people.”
The defense said Michael Fitzgerald suffers from mental illness. Steven Fitzgerald’s oldest brother, John, said his brother “steadfastly” tried to help Michael.
“As he was dying, I’m sure he forgave both those boys,” John Fitzgerald said. A life sentence would have been appropriate because “I don’t know if there is any way for him to be here.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
