[S]T. JOHNSBURY – The last two of three defendants charged in the killing of a 78-year-old Sheffield woman, in a drug-fueled home invasion that turned deadly, were sentenced for lesser offenses in separate hearings Tuesday, almost eight years after the crime.
One of the two said he was sorry for his actions, while the other declined to speak when asked by the judge if he had any comments.
Family members of the murdered woman, Mary “Pat” O’Hagan, said they had hoped the two men would spend more time behind bars than the sentences they received.
The two sentencing hearings, on the second-floor of the Caledonia County courthouse in St. Johnsbury, cap a case that started as a mystery and ended with only one defendant serving time for murder.
Matt O’Hagan, the victim’s son, speaking outside the courthouse after the two hearings, was asked if the proceedings, in which the two remaining defendants pleaded to lesser charges, brought closure.
“Not really,” he said, expressing disappointment in the length of the sentences. “If my mom was here, she’d want us to make sure they didn’t get back out so they couldn’t do it to anybody else.”
He then added, “And that is what keeps bothering me about the whole situation.”
Keith Baird, 37, received a 15- to 30-year sentence on the burglary charge at a hearing last month. He received another 15 to 30 years for the kidnapping charge on Tuesday. He had pleaded no contest to both charges.
The sentences will run concurrently with each other as well as with other sentences he has received for unrelated convictions, allowing him to serve them all at the same time. Because of this, the sentences in the O’Hagan case will add only four more years to the time he was already serving.
Baird could be released in 2029, according to a calculation issued by the Department of Corrections.
Richard Fletcher, 31, who in 2015 pleaded guilty to kidnapping and burglary charges in the case, was sentenced Tuesday to a total of 15 years behind bars with another 15 years suspended.
Fletcher’s sentence will run concurrently with an unrelated federal sentence of more than 15 years, which he already is serving for sexual exploitation of a child.
The formal sentencing for Fletcher had been delayed, because Fletcher agreed to provide testimony against the other two suspects in the case.
Caledonia County State’s Attorney Lisa Warren, who is prosecuting the case, said in court Tuesday that Fletcher’s assistance helped “bring some closure” although “not perfect closure” and “not perfect justice” to the O’Hagan family.
Michael Norrie, 27, the third defendant, pleaded guilty in 2015 to charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and burglary. Norrie was sentenced to 27 to 50 years, with all of it suspended except 23 years, to be served in prison.
According to court filings, it was Norrie who admitted to shooting and killing O’Hagan.
A murder charge against Baird had been thrown out by Judge Michael Kupersmith for lack of evidence. The state Supreme Court reinstated the charge. The high court decision in August 2017 contains the details of what happened on the night of Sept. 10, 2010.
According to the ruling, Baird, Fletcher and Norrie, all of whom previously had worked for O’Hagen, met that afternoon, in an abandoned property near O’Hagan’s Sheffield home. They got high on methamphetamine, and plotted to burglarize O’Hagan’s home that night, in search of medication and cash.
The plot involved using a spare key they knew she kept under a doormat, entering the home when they believed she would be sleeping, court documents said.
Baird had said all three should bring guns to the burglary, though only the gun brought by Fletcher would be loaded, according to to the ruling.
O’Hagan was still awake, watching TV when Norrie and Baird entered the home. Norrie held a handgun to her head while the others searched her home for pills and cash, the ruling said.
Fletcher and Baird heard two gunshots. They returned to the kitchen to find O’Hagan on the floor, wounded, with Norrie standing over her with the gun in his hand.
Fletcher and Baird hid O’Hagan’s body at a site in Wheelock, where it was found about four weeks later.
Until the body was found, the case was clouded in mystery. No one could imagine anyone killing O’Hagan, a widow who lived alone and was known for volunteering in the community.
Warren, the prosecutor, has said that with Norrie already admitting to killing O’Hagan in his case, the plea deals for the other suspects secured convictions that could have been at risk if the cases had gone to trial.
“I’d like to apologize to the O’Hagan family,” Fletcher said in court Tuesday before Judge Kupersmith handed down his sentence.
Baird, about an hour earlier, standing in nearly the same spot behind a defense table in the courtroom, told the judge he had nothing to say before his sentence was delivered.
“Not at this time,” he told the judge.
Baird had displayed little emotion earlier as two of O’Hagan’s children, Maureen O’Hagan and Shawn O’Hagan, spoke of their mother’s life, and their feeling of loss in coping with her death.
They described a woman who doted on her children and grandchildren, and volunteered around Sheffield, helping out at the library and the local food shelf. She loved crossword puzzles, they said, and watching the game show, “Jeopardy” on television, answering question after question.
Kupersmith, handing down the sentences Tuesday, called the crimes leading to O’Hagan’s death “terrible,” “unspeakable,” “miserable,” and “despicable.” He also told both men he understood their intention wasn’t to kill O’Hagan.
The judge told both men in their separate hearings that someday they likely would be released from prison, and could still be relatively young when it happens.
“There’s still time for you to redeem yourself,” Kupersmith told Baird. He delivered a similar message to Fletcher.
The judge also spoke of the Supreme Court decision that overturned his decision throwing out the murder charge against Baird. Kupersmith said maybe the high court was right, given that Baird’s actions were “so reckless.”
Shawn O’Hagan, speaking outside the courthouse following the hearing, was asked what he would like people to know about his mother.
“Her love of community,” he said. “She volunteered for a lot of groups, she asked for nothing in return.”
She believed in giving back, he continued, adding, “I think that’s a legacy we could all live by.”
