Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni said the agreement spared the victim's family the ordeal of a trial while guaranteeing Kenyon will not be released until after well after his 72nd birthday.
James R. Kenyon is seen in a Police Department booking photo after being charged with killing Alice M. Connors.SPRINGFIELD – James R. Kenyon of Westfield must serve a minimum of 20 years in state prison after pleading guilty Thursday to killing his longtime girlfriend in 2010.
Kenyon, 52, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and kidnapping charges in connection with strangulation death of Alice M. Connors in the Northridge Road home they shared.
Judge Richard J. Carey imposed a mandatory life sentence – which carries the possibility of parole in 15 years – on the murder charge, and a five-year term for kidnapping; as part of a plea agreement, Kenyon must serve the kidnapping sentence first, thus guaranteeing a minimum combined term of 20 years.
Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said the agreement spared the victim’s family the ordeal of a trial while guaranteeing that Kenyon will not be released until after well after his 72nd birthday.
Kenyon’s defense lawyer, Charles Groce III, planned to introduce evidence at trial that Kenyon’s mental state was a factor in the killing of Connors, 51, a postal service employee.
An expert witness was also expected to testify that the defendant suffered from chronic depression.
Westfield police said Kenyon admitted, during his 911 telephone call for emergency assistance, strangling Connors inside their 30 Northridge Road home. He admitted to the killing again when police and paramedics arrived at about 11:30 p.m., police said.
The victim was found in the living room, kneeling in front of a couch with a blue cloth belt tied around her neck, according to a police report.
Mastroianni said Connors' family believed that she would not have wanted Kenyon to serve life without parole, given Kenyon’s extensive physical and psychological problems and the fact the couple had been together for nearly 30 years.
No motive for the killing was given by police, but Mastroianni said Kenyon had struggled with alcoholism and was expected to argue at trial that he suffered a blackout during the crime.