A Quincy lawyer has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted with the murder of a Marshfield man.
Michael Moscaritolo, 37, was found guilty of First-Degree murder on Wednesday at Plymouth Superior Court.
Moscaritolo is one of three men convicted in the murder of Robert McKenna, who was found dead at his Damon’s Point Road home in Marshfield in 2015.
Moscaritolo was identified as the mastermind behind a planned robbery to break into McKenna’s home and steal five rifles from him. McKenna suffered extensive injuries, an artery was severed after his arm went through a window. He was found by a friend the next morning, in a pool of blood.
After a four-week trial, jurors on Wednesday found Moscaritolo acted with deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity/cruelty, to the level of felony murder.
Judge CJ Moriarty sentenced Moscaritolo to the mandatory sentence of life without parole on the murder charge. Concurrent prison sentences of 30 to 40 years were imposed on an Aggravated Burglary Charge, and 4-5 years on five counts of Larceny of a Firearm.
“Considering a punishment in this case, I have to say that this was a crime of surpassing cruelty that has caused so much harm, and it didn’t need to be,” said Moriarty. “Mr. Moscaritolo was the mastermind beyond any doubt of this crime and the sentence has to be reflected accordingly.”
Family members and friends of McKenna filled the courtroom for the verdict and sentencing.
“The night that these career criminals broke into Rob’s home, beat him, and left him to die has forever changed the lives of our family and of his many close friends,” said McKenna’s sister, Elizabeth Ainslie, during a victim impact statement.
She said her brother was key part of their family, and a special person who would always help others.
“On behalf of Rob’s family, we would like to thank the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, the Marshfield Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police,” said Ainslie. “Without your diligent efforts, today’s verdict would not have been possible.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Christine Kiggen, Jessica Elumba, and Kathleen Kramer. The three received applause from friends and family in the lobby in the courthouse.
Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said he’s glad for the family of McKenna, and they want to make sure the three men convicted in the case stay behind bars.
“This case had been going on since September of 2015. I remember when we first met with the family back at our old office in Brockton and telling them it was going to take some time and it did. But you know what, slow and steady wins the race. That’s because of the work that was done by all of the different people in this case,” said Cruz. “I’m very proud of what they’ve done — I think they made a very solid case. There’s an automatic appeal. We deal with it in every case and we’ll make sure we do our job and make sure they get held where they belong.”
James Ferguson of Dorchester and Mark O’Brien of South Boston were found guilty in connection to the murder and were sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Last year, a mistrial was declared on the murder charge for Moscaritolo after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. In the re-trial, jurors deliberated for 3 and ½ hours before returning the murder conviction.
“In 2015 I said there’s a small room waiting for the person that’s responsible for this,” said Marshfield Police Chief Phil Tavares. “He’s going to spend the rest of his life there now. Marshfield is going to be a better place, Massachusetts will be a better place. The family had to endure four months of this. Sitting every single day, every single one of them came here.”
