BOSTON (WHDH) - A Revere man who brutally murdered his wife, a beloved school teacher in Lynn, denied his involvement in her death before a judge sentenced him to life in prison on Monday morning.
Andrew MacCormack, 31, was ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole after Suffolk Superior Court Judge Mary Ames said she had never seen a homicide with such brutality in 40 years in the criminal justice system.
Before learning his fate, a tearful MacCormack proclaimed his innocence and stated, “I did not murder her.” He also told the court that the investigation into his wife’s death was “done with blinders on.”
MacCormack was found guilty of first-degree murder last month for strangling and repeatedly stabbing his wife, 30-year-old Vanessa Masucci, inside their home on Grand View Avenue in 2017.
Masucci, who worked as a second-grade teacher at Connery Elementary School, was strangled, beaten, stabbed several times, and suffocated with a trash bag while the couple’s 1-year-old daughter was home, according to investigators.
“I will never forget the feeling in my chest and the shaking of my knees when arrived at my sister’s home and learned that she was dead,” Angela Masucci said as victim impact statements were shared with the court. “The word dead had never seemed so bleak as it did that day because it was referring to Vanessa, my only sister. I cannot recover from the fact that he hugged me with the same hands that he used to kill her not even 24 hours before.”
The state’s chief medical examiner confirmed that Masucci suffered a blunt force injury to the head, sharp force injuries to the neck and asphyxiation.
MacCormack “went to great lengths” in an effort to cover up the crime, prosecutors said.
MacCormack left the house after the murder with his daughter, withdrew $100 from an ATM, bought cocaine in East Boston, and then returned home, where he used bleach to wipe down the bloody crime scene before calling 911, according to prosecutors.
During the course of his trial, prosecutors also said that MacCormack brought his daughter with him to a friend’s home in Saugus, where he completed a carpentry job. On the way there, he texted the victim’s phone to create the appearance that he was unaware of her death.
Just days before the murder, court documents indicated that Masucci texted MacCormack about his drug use and financial problems and said, “I hate you so much, you’ve ruined our daughter’s life because she won’t have her parents together. I’ll talk to an agent tomorrow about listing the house and I’ll look into divorce lawyers.”
MacCormack had also forged checks to himself from his wife’s personal bank account and took one of her credit cards, which she had reported stolen. He also stole her wedding ring and pawned his own band for $120.
MacCormack’s lawyers disputed the accusations, arguing that the two were a happy couple. They also argued that investigators did not look hard enough at other potential suspects.
His sentence will automatically be appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court.
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