NORWICH _ In Chenango County Court on Monday, Peter M. Wlasiuk was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for second-degree murder.
After a three-week retrial in September, Wlasiuk, 39, formerly of Oxford, was convicted of murdering his wife, Patricia Wlasiuk, in April 2002, then driving her body into Guilford Lake to make the death seem accidental.
Wlasiuk, 39, has been in custody since April 2002, and his more than 61/2 years behind bars will count toward his minimum sentence of 25 years, according to Judge Martin Smith, who presided in the case.
However, in a terse directive that followed Wlasiuk's teary 45-minute statement, Smith told Wlasiuk he should never go free.
``I've sat through an awful lot of trials and I have to say the evidence in this case that you murdered your wife and attempted to cover it up is overwhelming,'' said Smith, a Broome County judge who was assigned to the retrial.
State law directs that a trial judge be consulted when parole is considered, he noted.
``The good Lord knows I'm not going to be around when that happens, so I'm going to let the parole board know now: You should never be released. You, sir, are a person society needs to be protected from.''
Smith said Wlasiuk's explanations for his wife's death relied on unlikely coincidences, such as their pickup truck slipping through the only space in the guardrails by the lake, or his wife's body being battered ``while you didn't get a scratch.''
The judge's words followed Wlasiuk's protestations of innocence and a plea for mercy.
``I never hit my wife, never hurt my wife physically,'' he told the judge. His wife was an alcoholic who had been raped as a child and was at odds with her family, but he always stood up for her, he said.
``She was the love of my life; I would have died for her,'' he said.
When their truck ran into the lake, she was at the wheel and ``I'm not thinking she's going to die. I'm yelling at my wife that she drove the truck into the lake," he said. "I'm thinking about how I'm going to get this truck out of the lake before they arrest Patty.''
Wlasiuk also said one ruling in court, one that allowed jurors to consider a note in a police report that referred to the victim's diary, was a mistake.
The handwritten note about the diary alleges that Patty feared her husband ``would seriously injure or kill her'' and was upset by his ``ongoing sexual affair with Joyce Worden'' of Guilford.
The police document had been introduced into evidence by Wlasiuk's attorney, Randel Scharf of Cooperstown.
Jury misconduct allegation rejected
Monday's court session began with an inquiry into alleged juror misconduct, an issue Scharf first raised in court Oct. 28.
Scharf said that juror No. 6, Norwich podiatrist James Lentini, committed juror misconduct by offering medical insights during deliberations.
Smith said such insights are permissible if they relate directly to evidence presented in the case.
Scharf had produced affidavits from three jurors, Michael LaCroce, Darlene Armstrong and John Lyons, to support his charge of misconduct. Chenango County District Attorney produced affidavits from 11 jurors, all but Lyons, to show that no juror misconduct occurred.
Smith called Lyons to the stand and Lyons said he recalled Lentini telling him that by convicting Wlasiuk, ``we would be saving another person's life.''
The implication that Wlasiuk would kill again, if let go, was an apparent reference to the death of the mother of his oldest daughter in a fire in New Jersey in the mid-1990s, an incident that did not lead to criminal charges.
After Lyons said information about the other woman's death had not influenced his verdict in this case, Smith ruled there was no juror misconduct.
He told Scharf he could not question Lentini or the other jurors, who were waiting in the courthouse, and proceeded to sentencing.
Smith allowed Patty's mother, Joyce Cardozo of Bainbridge, and Patty's sister, Wendy Jennings, of the state of Maryland, to address the court Monday.
Cardozo said Patty was missed by friends and family, particularly her daughters, who are destined to grow up with out her.
``I am angry that Pete continues to deny any wrongdoing,'' she said.
Jennings, a teacher, said Wlasiuk's three girls are being hurt by the tug of war between families and the fallout from two murder trials for a father who won't admit what he has done.
``Nothing could be more cowardly than to take a mother from her children,'' she said, and called for the girls to have a more stable home life.
They live with Wlasiuk's father, Thomas Wlasiuk of Oxford, who was in court with the eldest girl Monday.
Peter Wlasiuk was originally convicted of second-degree murder in 2002, but that verdict was overturned by appellate judges in 2006, leading to the second trial.
At the end of Monday's session, Smith said Scharf will file appeal papers on Wlasiuk's behalf so the second trial can be reviewed.
As the courtroom was emptying out, Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride, who has prosecuted Wlasiuk twice, said justice was served in this case.
``I think the judge summed it up very well,'' said McBride. ``Mr. Wlasiuk should never get out.''
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Cooperstown Bureau reporter Tom Grace can be reached at tgrace@thedailystar.com or 847-9806.
