BOSTON — When Andrew MacCormack stood up in Suffolk Superior Court, prior to being sentenced to life without parole in prison, and professed his innocence in the murder of his wife, the victim’s father had had enough.
“We went through all the pretrial sessions, and then the trial, and he never as much as looked at us,” said Vinnie Masucci, whose daughter, Vanessa, was murdered in September 2017. “Then, he says that? I’m a little upset over that.”
In fact, when MacCormack’s lawyer continued in the same manner as his client, Masucci walked out of the room.
“He had to,” he said. “I wanted so badly to yell at him.”
Monday’s sentencing ended more than two years of angst the family has suffered since their daughter was discovered beaten and strangled in their Revere home in September 2017.
Now that he’s been formally sentenced, “like before (the MacCormack was convicted) I’m relieved,” he said.
Masucci, his wife, Karen, and daughter, Angela, all delivered victim impact statements.
“A young, bright light was taken from this earth,” said Masucci. “Now that her murderer is going away for life, I hope she can rest in peace.”
The victim’s mother, said, “The pain of losing Vanessa is so deep.
“Andrew did not just murder my daughter,” Karen Masucci said, noting that the couple had a daughter together, adding “she had her mother ripped away from her by the monster who was supposed to love and protect her.”
Her sister, Angela, said that “(MacCormack) hugged me with the same hands that he used to kill her not even 24 hours earlier.”
MacCormack, 31, of Revere, was convicted last month in the brutal slaying the Connery Elementary School, teacher. Vanessa Masucci, a St. Mary’s graduate, was 30 years old when she was slain. Her husband ostensibly found her body, but he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder three days later.
MacCormack’s trial lasted almost two weeks, with the jury overcoming being deadlocked at one point, before finding him guilty.
When given the opportunity to speak before sentencing, MacCormack said he “sure as hell didn’t kill her, that “I will not rest until this injustice is corrected,” and that “there’s somebody out there getting away with murder.”
