A 15 year-old boy who beheaded his 16-year-old classmate in November 2016, for spending too much time with his girlfriend, has been given two life sentences.
Mathew Borges, now 18, was convicted of the first-degree murder of Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino at a court in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on Tuesday. Afterwards, Borges was handed the two 30 year prison terms, to run concurrently. A judge refused to set a minimum prison term because of Borges’ age when he committed the crime, meaning he may be eligible for parole in years to come.
But Lee’s mother Katiuska Paulino, who paid a tearful tribute to her son during Tuesday’s sentencing, called for her son’s killer to spend the rest of his life in jail, WCVB reported.
She said: “We feel that this criminal deserves to spend his life incarcerated so at the very least, it serves to keep him off the streets. He should never have the opportunity to kill again, to rob another person of their life like he did Lee Manuel, in such a horrible and sad way.”
Borges and Lee were both students at Lawrence High School when Borges killed Lee. Lee’s dismembered body was found along the banks of the Merrimack River by a dog walker. His head and hands had been chopped off. Lee’s head was found nearby, but his hands were never found.
An autopsy revealed Lee’s recovered remains had suffered 76 wounds. His body had been so badly defiled the medical examiner was unable to say whether Lee had been slashed and decapitated before or after he’d been killed.
