TO: MEDIA
FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: December 16, 2016
RE: PRESS RELEASE – PEOPLE V. NICHOLAS PASCARELLA, JR.
On December 16, 2016, after having previously been found guilty by an Ulster County jury of Murder in the Second Degree, Nicholas Pascarella, Jr. was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison by the Hon. Donald A. Williams.
Pascarella, Jr. was charged by indictment with Murder in the Second Degree for killing his father with a baseball bat on December 27th, 2014, outside the victim’s residence while his mother watched the brutal attack. During the trial, the defense argued that the defendant committed the homicide while under the influence of an extreme emotional disturbance, thereby committing the lesser crime of Manslaughter in the First Degree, which defense the jury rejected.
During a very emotional sentencing hearing several family members addressed the court on behalf of the victim, Nicholas Pascarella, Sr. Judith Pascarella, the wife of the victim and mother of the defendant told Judge Williams that “my son did the ultimate betrayal. He cold bloodedly and without hesitation killed his father, his hero as you heard him describe here in court”.
Jared Cocozza, the grandson of the victim and nephew of the defendant told Judge Williams, “There won’t be him smiling in the audience at my graduation or even to bust my chops on my first date. My brother only got six years with him but I will make sure he knows everything that pop taught me cause he taught me about life, love and family. And no one, not even a murderer can take that away.”
Dawn Cocozza, daughter of the victim and sister of the defendant addressed her brother in court and told him, “And for my children, I will not let you or this circumstance make us into victims. We will rise up and live our lives. Fortunately, that does not include you. And I want to be nothing like you. I want to be a mother to my children and show them that in spite of you, I can be happy and move forward. In order for me to move forward, I am choosing to forgive you. And with this, I can set you free, move forward and forget you.
Judge Williams addressed the defendant directly just before pronouncing the sentence which is the maximum allowed by law. He told Pascarella, Jr that he did not feel there was any chance of rehabilitation for him. Judge Williams went on to say that there was strong evidence during the trial that this murder was an attempt to impress his estranged wife, Michelle Pascarella, nee Tompkins. Judge Williams then read from a transcript of a phone call from Pascarella, Jr. to Michelle Pascarella from the jail shortly after the murder. In it, the defendant stated, “Five years is a long time to sleep by myself and never be held again. And to be honest I would do it every single day for you. The sad part is when five years is up and I get a taste of freedom and you ask me to kill somebody else, I’d do it again.”
The case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Kavanagh and the defendant was represented by MariAnn Connolly.