Roderick Geronimo was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the murder of his mother
A Vermont man was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the July 2012 murder of his mother.
Roderick Geronimo, 55, received eight to 15 years in prison after he admitted to attacking and killing his mother, Gertrudes Alwardt, 82, who he told police had been ‘possessed by Satan.’
Geronimo pushed a table into her and hit her over the head with wine decanters before pouring water into her mouth to ‘cast the devil out.’
Alwardt died of blunt force trauma to the head and torso from the horrific homicide.
The defense and prosecution said Geronimo had been suffering a psychotic episode at the time, and his charge was reduced from murder.
The ‘sentence will allow the Department of Corrections to determine whether (Geronimo’s) treatment needs can be met in prison or in the community,’ Judge Thomas Zonay said in court.
‘It will also assure that he would not be released until such time as he is deemed to not be a threat to public safety.’
Prosecutors in the case believe Geronimo’s sentence should have been harsher.
The horrific murder happened at the family home in East Poultney, Vermont in July 2012
Geronimo received eight to 15 years in prison for the crime, it was announced in court this week
Rutland County Deputy State’s Attorney Peter Bevere said in that case, ‘a message must be sent to the defendant and to anyone else planning to act.’
Bevere added: ‘Whether it was because God told him to do it or because he simply flipped and was in a rage, the result is the same.’
The East Poultney resident since argued no one was ‘more sorry’ for his mother’s loss than he.
He also confirmed he had been taking medication for his depression and anxiety and smoked marijuana regularly.
Geronimo said in court voices in his head influenced him to commit the murder.
‘I always thought this was a mental health case,’ relative Joseph Bart said in court, according to VT Digger.
The son said he was taking depression and anxiety medication and that voices in his head told him to commit the murder