DENVER—A man found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a teenager who was found dismembered was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after he was ordered back to court to listen to relatives of the victim.
Edward Romero tried to skip the sentencing where relatives of the victim were going to testify, but the judge refused to allow it.
Romero pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in connection with the death of 16-year-old Alicia Martinez, but the jury found him guilty. The teenager’s body was found in a home in Denver in October 2010.
“Never in my life did I know sick people like you roamed the streets,” the victim’s mother, Vanessa Martinez, told Romero when he finally showed up for his sentencing.
Alicia’s grandmother asked the judge if he could make Romero look at her, but Denver District Judge William Robbins said he could force Romero into court, but couldn’t force him to look at her.
During opening statements at the trial in January, prosecutors told jurors that Romero told a friend he wanted to make romantic advances on the teenager during a social gathering. Prosecutors said Romero then killed Martinez in a garage, placed her dismembered body in a plastic bag, and cleaned the crime scene with bleach.
The judge sentenced to Romero to life in prison with parole, plus three years for tampering with evidence and another 18 months for a misdemeanor charge.
Romero refused to speak at Tuesday’s hearing and his attorneys said they will appeal Romero’s conviction.
Alicia Martinez had accompanied a friend to a party at Romero’s house on Oct. 22, 2010. Romero’s ex-girlfriend, Francesca Pagliasotti, testified that she later she saw Martinez’s body with a gunshot wound to the head lying on a sofa in the garage.
She said she begged Romero to turn himself in but he refused. Pagliasotti said she then saw Romero dismember the teenager’s body.
Pagliasotti was sentenced to 10 years for being an accessory to murder and abuse of a corpse.
During Romero’s trial, the prosecution quoted doctors who determined that Romero may have been suffering from a mental disorder at times, but he was not psychotic or insane.
A defense attorney said every doctor Romero had seen noted the same symptoms, but came up with different diagnoses. The defense said Romero suffered memory loss and blackouts, heard voices and suffered from both insomnia and panic attacks.
According to KMGH-TV (), Vanessa Martinez said she believed all along that Romero was faking his mental illness.
———
Information from: KMGH-TV,
