Global Courant 2023-05-18 01:08:05
Sayfullo Saipov, the ISIS-inspired attacker convicted of killing eight people earlier this year, was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences on Wednesday.
Saipov was convicted in January of all 28 counts he faced in connection with carrying out the deadly attack along a Manhattan bike path with a rented Home Depot truck.
The Uzbekistan resident was spared the death penalty after jurors stuck in sentencing on the nine charges he faced that were eligible for the death penalty, instead agreeing to a life sentence without the possibility of release.
Judge Vernon Broderick noted Saipov’s “sheer unrepentant nature” before handing down eight consecutive life sentences, plus 260 years and two concurrent life sentences.
“The behavior in this case is some of the worst, if not the worst, I’ve ever seen,” Broderick said. “The eight people you killed in cold blood were living their best lives.”
The judge scolded Saipov for his arbitrary killing, which he said marked their families forever.
“You didn’t care and don’t care about their suffering,” Broderick said.
In this handout photo provided by the St. Charles County Department of Corrections, Sayfullo Saipov poses for a booking photo after a previous arrest in Missouri. Saipov was arrested on October 31, 2017 after allegedly driving a pickup truck on a lower Manhattan bike path, killing 8 people and injuring 12.
St. Charles County Department of Corrections via Getty Images
Ahead of the judge’s sentencing, survivors of the attack and families of the victims gave heartbreaking statements to the court as Saipov sat at the defense table in a navy blue smock, full beard and glasses.
Marion Van Reeth was unconscious for over a week, lost both her legs and suffered paralysis below her waist after being hit by Saipov. She introduced herself through tears.
“Mr. Saipov, I am one of your victims,” Van Reeth said.
She spoke from a wheelchair and told Saipov that she could never walk like he can.
“Are you still convinced that your cruel act against innocent people was right? Do you still see yourself as a soldier for ISIS?” she asked. “I really hope that over time you can reconsider your beliefs.”
Monica Missio’s son, Nicholas Cleves, was the last of eight people killed when Saipov’s truck sped down a bike path along the Hudson River.
“I am a mother overwhelmed with grief,” Missio told the court. “I will mourn Nicholas for the rest of my life, because my love for him is endless.”
Cleves was the only New Yorker killed in the city’s deadliest terror attack since September 11. 66mph.
“People witnessed him being hit and catapulted into the air,” Missio said. “I am haunted by the cruel way Nicholas died.”
She added that she has “nothing but contempt” for Saipov.
Kleve’s aunt, Nicole Missio, called Saipov and his attack bad.
“I don’t care if the monster lives or dies. I never did,” she told the court. “But I am particularly disturbed by the thought that if his relatives knew or could see that he was radicalized, they also have blood on their hands.”
In this Nov. 1, 2017 file photo, investigators work around the wreckage of a Home Depot pickup truck a day after it was used in a New York terror attack.
AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Hernan Mendoza was one of five friends from Argentina celebrating the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation in New York when they were killed in the attack. His widow, Ana Evans, was unable to attend court in person and issued a written statement: “I can only think of Hernan and our children, who will never again exchange looks, gestures, smiles or signs of support with their father. Equally incredible and terrifying is the disaster that a single person can cause.”
The wife of Alejandro Pagnucco, another Argentine killed in the attack, denounced Saipov for keeping his neck and eyes down during statements about the victim’s impact.
“Saipov, you can’t even look at us. You can’t raise your face and look,” Pagnucco’s wife, Maria, said, her voice rising with anger. “You’re worthless. You don’t even deserve a place in this world. You’re worth nothing. You’re pathetic. You’ve humiliated your family. You’ve humiliated your father and your mother. Your last name brings shame. God is ashamed.”
The father of the attack’s first victim, Ann-Laure Decadt, also questioned Saipov, who didn’t look up.
“Mr. Saipov, you drove that truck into my beloved daughter and killed her,” he said. ‘Why, Mr. Saipov? Why did you do this to her?’
Federal prosecutors this week argued in a memorandum of conviction to the judge that Saipov deserved multiple life sentences “to give just punishment” for the October 31, 2017 attack.
“The defendant’s conduct before, during and after his assault warrants a punishment that reflects the extraordinary depravity of his crimes. The government respectfully requests that the court impose the maximum legal penalty for each conviction,” the prosecutors said in the statement. sentencing memorandum filed Monday. .
The sentencing memorandum contained statements made by Saipov after the attack.
In this Nov. 7, 2017 file photo, flowers mark the location where terrorist Sayfullo Saipov rode into a bicyclist along a bike path in New York’s Manhattan. Saipov deliberately drove a truck into the bike path, killing eight people and injuring twelve.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE
Saipov admitted that his goal was to kill as many people as possible and that he was happy with what he had done. Saipov smiled and asked if he could hang an ISIS flag in his hospital room. Saipov admitted that he had decided to to commit an attack.” a full year before carrying it out, and that he spent two months planning his truck attack,” prosecutors said.
The jury agreed that Saipov deliberately killed his victims after “substantial planning and premeditation” and that he did so for ISIS. However, the jury was not unanimous in their opinion that Saipov posed a future danger or was likely to commit violent acts while in prison.
Saipov will spend at least 22 hours a day alone in his cell at ADX in Florence, Colorado after his conviction.
