WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A second man has pleaded guilty for his role in the fatal stabbing of an 84-year-old Massachusetts man.
Jason Lopez, of Ware, entered his plea Wednesday to charges of manslaughter, home invasion and arson among other offenses and was sentenced to 25 to 30 years in state prison.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Hodgens says the 27-year-old Lopez and co-defendant Jonathan Hart stabbed Joseph Cernauskas to death in his Hardwick home in 2011.
Hart told authorities that Cernauskas, who was his great-uncle, had molested him for several years, starting when he was 6 years old.
Hart pleaded guilty to identical charges and was given the same prison sentence last month.
The Telegram & Gazette reports Lopez apologized in court, saying “it haunts me to this day.”
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