As young men apologized in court Friday for breaking into an East Rock home and beating her, Julia O’Sullivan managed “forgiveness” for a crime that still makes her “gut cleave” at sudden noises.
“I’m extremely sorry,” Samuel Tyrone Evans told O’Sullivan. “I’m not a monster.”
Evans (pictured), who’s 19, was one of three young men sentenced to prison Friday in connection to what was described as a “horrific” home invasion on April 29, 2008.
On that day, O’Sullivan was house-sitting at 97 Loomis Place when four men broke into the home around 11 p.m. She was tied to a chair, beaten with a baseball bat and left bleeding for hours after the intruders plundered the home and escaped with her car.
O’Sullivan showed strength and forgiveness Friday at a sentencing hearing Friday morning before Judge Richard Damiani in Connecticut Superior Court on Church Street. To make matters easier for the victim, Damiani saw three defendants — Evans, Matthew McNulty, and Tadd LeClaire — at once. The three have admitted to the crime and pleaded guilty to a range of range of kidnapping, robbery, assault, home invasion and larceny charges.
Families of the three young men wept in the sixth-floor courtroom as everyone involved — the prosecutor, defense attorneys, the judge — sought to wrap their minds around the case. They agreed it is one of exceptional cruelty, coming from men with little to no prior trouble with the law. And they all said they were struck by the depth of the victim’s written testimony detailing how the incident had affected “every aspect of her life.”
Damiani sentenced McNulty and LeClaire each to 18 years in prison. Evans got the stiffest sentence, 20 years. A fourth defendant, Tyquan Brown, did not plead guilty. He is headed for a trial for his role in the incident.
O’Sullivan did not speak in court. She did submit testimony detailing how the case has affected her.
State Prosecutor John Waddock read some of her testimony aloud to illustrate how “an incredibly harrowing experience” had “dramatically changed the victim’s life.”
“I am coming to see that this incident with these four young men will be part of my life forever,” O’Sullivan said, according to Waddock.
In written testimony, she recounted “the ongoing horror of knowing that one is expendable to others,” and the horror of knowing how easily other people can end one’s life. She has trouble trusting people and is easily spooked by movements in the dark. “Noises behind me still make my heart clutch and my gut cleave,” she said.
O’Sullivan sustained a serious head wound and a broken wrist from the attack. She remained tied to the chair when they left. She freed herself and called 911. If she had not had the strength to free herself, she “could easily have bled to death,” Waddock said.
Despite her suffering, the victim has managed to be “very forgiving,” the judge said.
In other written testimony read aloud in court, she said, “I care for” the young men. “Despite my rage at their deed … I hope that they will learn that actions have consequences,” and that they go on to have “full lives.”
As they listened to the testimony, Evans and McNulty hung their heads, visibly contrite. The judge said the defendants have been sincere in their remorse and he hoped to see that demonstrated in court.
LeClaire (pictured) chose not to take that challenge. The six-foot-one man, who’s 19 years old, sat quietly in a bright orange jump suit with his back to the public audience.
“No, thank you,” he said when offered a chance to speak.
McNulty, by contrast, looked frequently at the crowd, especially over to where his family sat, his father shedding tears. (His photo was not available.)
McNulty was the least involved of the four defendants, according to his attorney, Richard Silverstein. He did not strike her or detain the victim and was never in the same room with her at the Loomis Place house, Silverstein said. But he’s not free of guilt, the lawyer conceded. McNulty showed “callousness and cowardice” in not confronting his three friends, Silverstein said. “I believe that was unconscionable.”
Given the chance to speak, McNulty, who’s 21, faced his family and the victim and issued an emotional apology.
“I have no excuse for the actions” that night, he said. “I apologize from the depths of my heart and soul, and I wish everything could be taken away.”
When his turn came to speak, Evans leaned forward with his knuckles on the table and struggled to find the right words.
“I can’t express how I feel … knowing that I hurt someone,” he said, turning to face O’Sullivan. The 19-year-old wore a prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and leg shackles. The incident “will haunt me for the rest of my life,” he said.
Evans asked the victim’s forgiveness. “That would make my time a lot easier,” he said
A “Poster Case” For New Law
The prison terms might have been shorter if the victim had decided the punishment instead of a judge, Silverstein contended at one point.
The judge agreed.
“She’s a very nice, forgiving lady,” Damiani responded, “and that’s why you’re stuck with me.”
He gave all three young men mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years.
That’s because of a new law that took effect July 1, 2008 in the wake of a triple-killing in Cheshire. The law made home invasion — breaking into an occupied home with the intent to commit a crime — a class A felony punishable by 10 to 25 years in prison, with a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. All three defendants pleaded guilty to home invasion, among other charges.
“This case is the poster case for the home invasion law,” remarked Damiani.
He sought to drive home the seriousness of the offense.
“You attack a woman, you hit her with a bat and you tie her up. … What you did that night was evil,” he said. “You were predators and that’s why you’re going to jail.”
Reached after the hearing, O’Sullivan said she’d like to say “thank you to the people at the City of New Haven” who helped her through this episode. She said she will reserve further comment until the upcoming trial for the fourth defendant, Brown.