Boston Men Get Life Sentences For 2010 Slaying Of Pizza Delivery Man

Two Boston men convicted of luring a pizza delivery driver to a vacant home, where they killed and robbed him, were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison following tearful statements from the victim's wife and daughters.

Alexander Gallett, 22, and Michel St. Jean, 24, were convicted Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court of first-degree murder for the September 2010 slaying of Richel Nova.

Yamiley Mathurin, now 21, but 17 at the time of the slaying, was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison on Wednesday. She pleaded guilty earlier this month to manslaughter in the case before she went to trial.

The trio lured the 58-year-old Nova to a vacant home in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood, stabbed him 16 times, stole the two pizzas, chicken wings and bottle of soda they had ordered, as well as $140, and then fled in Nova's car.

Nova, a father of four, was working the delivery job to raise extra money for his children's education.

"The man who was tortured that night wasn't just a delivery man. He was my dad," his daughter, Michelle, said as she broke down while reading her victim impact statement.

Nova's wife, Marilin Pimentel, called her husband her life partner and said she still speaks to him.

"I talk to him, but he doesn't hear me," she said.

Gallett apologized and asked for forgiveness, but the other two defendants did not speak.

The men were convicted on the second day of deliberations after a two week trial.

Gallett's lawyer did not dispute that his client took part in the slaying. St. Jean's lawyer said while his client was present, he did not take part in the killing and was hoping for a conviction on a lesser charge.

Witnesses, surveillance video and DNA evidence tied the defendants to the crime scene.

"The brutal murder of Mr. Nova was made even more heinous by its enormous senselessness," Judge Linda Giles said.

Earlier: