NORWICH – More than ten years after he was first charged with murdering his wife, Patricia, Peter Wlasiuk was sentenced a third time to 25 years to life in state prison in county court Friday.
The sentence is the maximum allowed by law, although Wlasiuk will receive credit for the ten years he’s served to date. Wlasiuk’s attorney, Mark Loughran, had no comment following his client’s third conviction, and would only say Wlasiuk will once again appeal the court’s ruling. Wlasiuk has 30 days to file his appeal.
The family of Patricia Wlasiuk released no official statement, saying only that Patricia’s children had suffered enough. Said one family member, “The kids have already been hurt ... this is an awful thing for kids that age to have been through.”
Peter Wlasiuk spoke at length during Friday’s proceeding – nearly an hour – several times fighting back tears as he continued to maintain his innocence. According to Wlasiuk, he and he wife were travelling east along County Road 35 in the Town of Guilford on or about April 3, 2002, when Patricia swerved to miss a deer in the roadway, sending the couple’s 1998 GMC pick-up truck into Guilford Lake, where she drowned. Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride, however, said Wlasiuk’s story holds no weight, and it’s believed Wlasiuk smothered his wife at the couple’s New Virginia Road home in Oxford before loading her body into the bed of the truck and sending it into the lake. Patricia’s body was later recovered by emergency personnel and all efforts to resuscitate her met with failure.
Wlasiuk has now been convicted of Patricia’s murder three times – first in 2003 and again in 2008. Both convictions were overturned on appeal, in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
“There is no way I can receive a fair trial,” said Wlasiuk as he addressed acting Chenango County Court Judge Joseph Cawley Jr. “I’ll keep fighting, your honor. I will never see parole. I will die in prison.”
Wlasiuk repeatedly denied killing his wife over the course of his hour-long address, stating Patricia was his best friend.
“I’m being wrongfully convicted. I am innocent. I did not kill my wife,” added Wlasiuk. “There is a great injustice being done here. I’m the guy in Chenango County that everybody loves to hate.”
Wlasiuk went on to claim official misconduct, stating that evidence had been planted by authorities in an effort to secure a conviction.
“If I was going to kill somebody, I’d do it a lot different,” said Wlasiuk at one point. “This is so wrong on every level. Any time I’m able to prove my innocence, it’s been blocked.”
McBride said he disagrees, however, and said Wlasiuk had “received his day in court” – and a fair trial – before asking the court to “put all sympathy aside” and requesting the maximum sentence.
“I was very glad to see Mr. Wlasiuk receive the maximum sentence,” added McBride. “He’s brought a lot of pain to is family, and to Patty’s family, who will never have their daughter, their sister, their mother back because of his actions. This has been a trying event, not only for Patty’s family, but it’s been a trying saga for all of Chenango County. I’m glad to see that it’s over and that he received the maximum sentence.”
Said Judge Cawley prior to handing down what he called the only reasonable sentence, “I don’t even know what to say. I don’t know where to begin, so I’m not even going to try.”