Gunman In Gowdy Case Gets Life In Prison

By Andrew Gorosko

DANBURY — Danbury Superior Court Judge Gary White this week ordered Ruperto Lugo, 21, of Stratford to serve a life sentence in his felony murder conviction in the July 1999 street corner shooting of 15-year-old Jason Gowdy of Sandy Hook.

A life sentence in Connecticut equals 60 years of time served. In the sentencing, Judge White ordered Lugo to serve 50 years in prison, and an additional 10 years of heavily-monitored special parole. The judge ordered that the felony murder prison term begin after Lugo's July 2002 completion of a three-year prison term, which he is now serving for an assault on a corrections officer. That conviction stems from an incident which occurred in July 1999, shortly after he was arrested on the felony murder charge in the Gowdy shooting.

Public Defender Paul Eschuk raised motions in court to have Judge White order a new trial for Lugo based on three evidentiary grounds. Judge White denied those motions. "The evidence in regard to Lugo was overwhelming," Judge White said.Â

Judge White sentenced co-defendant Alejandro Melendez, 21, of Bridgeport to a sentence of 10 years. That sentence includes eight years in prison, followed by two years of heavily monitored special parole, based on convictions on two weapons charges in connection with the Gowdy murder.

Melendez, who was charged as an accessory in the case, supplied Lugo with the gun and ammunition that Lugo used to kill Gowdy.

With 10 judicial marshals and corrections officers standing at guard, Judge White on Tuesday noted that Lugo has a lengthy violent criminal record stemming from drug use. The judge, however, said he believes that Lugo is sincere is expressing regret over having shot and killed Gowdy.

Several members of the 12-person jury, which convicted Lugo and Melendez on April 17, attended the sentencing in Courtroom 6, where about 45 spectators were present.

Senior Assistant State's Attorney Devin Stilson urged that Judge White sentence Lugo to 90 years in prison for his four convictions in the case — felony murder, attempted first-degree robbery, carrying a pistol without a permit, and possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle. Lugo was acquitted on a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery.

"The court's well aware of how serious this particular case is," Mr Stilson said in describing Lugo's record of violent crime, plus his receipt of 18 disciplinary offenses in prison while serving time since his July 1999 arrest in the Gowdy murder.

"Mr Lugo's testimony was self-serving. It was contradictory to every other witness in this case. There was no assistance rendered to Jason [Gowdy] at the scene," Mr Stilson said. After he shot Gowdy on the night of July 10, 1999, Lugo got into an automobile and left the scene, later going out with friends for beer, marijuana, and pizza, Mr Stilson said.

"What Mr Lugo did that night was senseless ... It was incredibly cowardly," the prosecutor said.

In recommending 90 years in prison for Lugo, the prosecutor said, "It is imperative that this individual be isolated from this society as long as this court can," considering the dangers that Lugo poses to society.

Mr Stilson read a transcript of a prison telephone conversation which Lugo had had with his girlfriend Barbara Carleton, who would later testify against Lugo at his April murder trial.

In response to Carleton's assertion that Lugo had shot Gowdy, Lugo responded, "So I did it. So what? So what?"

Mr Stilson said prisoners are aware that such telephone conversations are recorded by the state Department of Correction.

Mother's Statement

Mildred Gowdy, Jason Gowdy's mother, read an emotional statement to Judge White before the sentencing.

Sitting on a front-row bench in court, David Gowdy, Jason's father, listened intently and wept as his ex-wife spoke.

Ms Gowdy said she has led an empty life since her son's violent death, adding she hopes that Jason can somehow return to her.

Fighting back tears, she said, "All I have are memories. Jason was an awesome child. He was kind. He was thoughtful. He was sweet ... Killing Jason was like killing me, like killing all of us ... They left my son to die in the street, like an animal, with no remorse ... How do we go on?"

Breaking down in sobs, Ms Gowdy then quickly walked from the courtroom.

Jennifer Gowdy, David Gowdy's current wife and Jason Gowdy's stepmother, read a statement from David Gowdy to Judge White. In the statement, David Gowdy said that he had moved to Newtown from Danbury with Jennifer, Jason, and Jennifer's two daughters because they considered Newtown a safe, quiet place to live.

Jason would have graduated from Henry Abbott Regional Technical School in Danbury this spring and would have then enrolled in the US Marine Corps, according to Mr Gowdy.

"It's just a difficult thing for me to accept that my son Jason is gone and out of my life ... Jason always looked up to me. My zest for life is gone ... No one can bring my son Jason back ... My Jason is gone ... It's just so wrong that we lost him so early in life, so wrongly," David Gowdy said in the statement.

Later, addressing Judge White directly, David Gowdy said he had never shown his son how to disarm a person with a gun because he did not think his son would need such a skill, but considering what happened, he now wishes he had taught his son such a technique. David Gowdy formerly worked as a security guard at Danbury area nightclubs.

In testimony during the April murder trial, Lugo acknowledged that he had shot Mr Gowdy, but said that he did not intentionally shoot him.

After Lugo pulled a pistol on Jason Gowdy, a scuffle followed in which Gowdy sought to disarm Lugo, but the gun discharged, sending two bullets from the .380 semiautomatic pistol into Gowdy's head at close range, killing him.

In an emotional statement, Lugo's mother told the court she has the deepest sympathy for the Gowdy family. She blamed the crime on drugs. Lugo and his mother emotionally embraced in the hushed courtroom.

Addressing the court, Lugo, who was dressed in a white shirt and dark necktie, said, "It's hard. It's real hard to see myself in this situation ... What happened on that night is a tragedy that has affected many families ... I am truly sorry and regretful for what I have done ... I am very, very sorry that you have gone through a parent's worst nightmare ... I now see that life is precious ... It is and always will be a very sad situation for everyone involved."

Lugo said that although he cannot change the past, he has made a renewed commitment to God. He added he is taking college-level courses in prison after having received his high school equivalency diploma there.

"This case has caused everybody a great deal of pain," Mr Eschuk said.

Judge White said he sympathizes with the families of the victim and the two defendants.

"There's nothing I can do to take away that pain ... experienced by the Gowdy family, he said. One of a judge's most difficult tasks is to mete out a sentence, he noted.

Judge White then sentenced Lugo to 20 years in prison on his conviction for attempted first-degree robbery, five years in prison for possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, and five years in prison for carrying a pistol without a permit. Those three sentences will be served consecutively, for a total of 30 years. That 30-year term will be served concurrently with the life sentence for felony murder. In that life sentence, Lugo is ordered to serve 50 years in prison, and then serve 10 years of heavily monitored special parole. Violations of the terms of his special parole would send Lugo back into prison.

Melendez

Mr Stilson urged Judge White to sentence Melendez to 10 years in prison for his convictions on carrying a pistol without a permit and possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle.

Mr Stilson said that after Lugo shot Gowdy twice in the head at close range, Melendez expressed pleasure at the shooting. Melendez was so pleased that he even took home the gun which he had supplied to Lugo in the shooting, Mr Stilson said. Police later found the gun at Melendez's Bridgeport home, providing a key piece of evidence in the case.

Private attorney Gary Mastronardi, representing Melendez, pointed out to Judge White that Melendez was acquitted of felony murder, first-degree attempted robbery, and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery in the case.

Mr Mastronardi urged that Judge White impose a split sentence on Melendez, including a lengthy suspended prison sentence.

Melendez, who wore a khaki prison uniform in court, did not speak on his own behalf.

In handing down his sentence for Melendez, Judge White said Melendez's statements after the murder were "reprehensible." Melendez's conduct on July 10, 1999, had a great bearing on what happened that day, the judge said.

"I think you deserve a serious sentence," the judge said in issuing an eight-year prison term followed by two years of special parole. Melendez also must complete 1,000 hours of community service after being released from prison. If the terms of the parole are violated, Melendez returns to prison, Judge White said.

According to testimony at the April murder trial, Mary Pires, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, had urged Lugo, Melendez, Barbara Carleton, and Alexis Barnett to travel from Bridgeport to Sandy Hook with her on the evening of July 10, 1999, in order to trick people out of marijuana.

When the group of five, traveling in a black 1989 Chevrolet Beretta coupe, approached Gowdy and his friends, Brandon Jossick and Matt Haight, at the intersection of Riverside Road and Cherry Street in Sandy Hook about 8 pm, Pires, who knew the boys, urged the people in the Chevrolet to pull the car over to seek drugs from the three youths.

A key aspect of the jury deliberations was determining whether, in the course of a confrontation, Lugo was seeking "change" from an alleged marijuana transaction, as was claimed by Lugo, or whether Lugo was seeking to steal a gold chain which Mr Gowdy was wearing around his neck, as was claimed by other witnesses in the case.

Although the jury decided that Lugo was seeking to steal the gold chain, it did not believe that Melendez had conspired with Lugo to do so.

Police arrested Lugo and Melendez three days after the shooting. Both men were 19 at the time. At the trial, the state dropped charges of committing a felony with a firearm against the two men. Before the trial, the state had offered plea bargains to both defendants, which they did not accept.

Jason Gowdy had lived with his father, David Gowdy, with Mr Gowdy's wife, and with his two stepsisters on Pine Street in Sandy Hook.