NH Home Invasion Accomplices Sentenced To Decades In Prison
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) -- Two teenagers who heard screams and pleas but did nothing to stop the machete and knife attacks that killed a New Hampshire mother and maimed her 11-year-old daughter were sentenced Monday to decades in prison for their roles in the home invasion.
Quinn Glover and William Marks, both 19, were sentenced to prison for their roles in planning and committing a Mont Vernon home invasion that left Kimberly Cates dead and her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, fighting for her life.
Marks stood in the doorway of the master bedroom where the two victims had been sleeping and witnessed the carnage, but did nothing to summon help.
Also Read: Mont Vernon Murderers Spader & Gribble Headed To Same Prison
Glover testified he recoiled in horror, clutching his hands to his ears, but could not drown out the screams and thuds of the machete striking again and again.
"Every moment that I close my eyes I see what I could have done and how I could have prevented this horror that I helped set in motion," Glover told Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson. "There's nothing I can ever do that can ever make up for my despicable actions, for the cowardice I showed."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports.
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Glover was sentenced to 20 to 40 years for burglary, robbery and conspiracy to commit burglary. Marks was sentenced to 30 to 60 years for conspiracy to commit murder, burglary and first-degree assault.
Prosecutors say Glover was the first to tell investigators everything he knew about the crimes and attacks, which were committed by Steven Spader and Christopher Gribble, who are now serving life sentences without possibility of parole.
Spader wielded the machete. Gribble stabbed Jaimie Cates repeatedly with a knife and left her for dead.
But the little girl survived by playing dead, watching as Gribble plunged his knife into her mother's throat to make sure she died.
Prosecutor Jeffery Strelzin said Marks initially lied about his involvement and weeks after the crime had conversations with his father about selling his story to a national media outlet to make money. Marks was much more deeply involved with Spader in planning the random home invasion, and the pair had initially targeted a home next door before deciding on the Cates' home, Strelzin said.
Prosecutors reached plea bargains that reduced the prison sentences of Marks and Glover in exchange for their testimony against Spader and Gribble.
David Cates, who spoke at the sentencings, was in court Monday but did not address the court.
"Mr. Cates understands the plea but he doesn't like it," Strelzin told the court before Marks was sentenced. "He has no sympathy for this defendant and feels he's getting off light."
Strelzin made similar remarks prior to Glover's sentencing.
Abramson said she did not feel Marks in particular is being punished enough, but said after presiding over the trials of Spader and Gribble, "I can now understand why the state was forced to deal with the devil."
Marks said nothing before being sentenced. His attorney, Peter Leahy, said Marks "is disgusted with himself."
Outside court, Marks' father, James Marks, did not deny he spoke with several media outlets about selling his son's story.
"If I could have made a deal to bail out my son on Oct. 9, I would have done it in a minute," James Marks said. "If I'd been a better parent, he might have come to me and said I got into this mess."
Jaimie Cates, now 12, did not testify and came to court once -- to watch Gribble be led away in chains after his sentencing March 25.
A fifth co-conspirator, Autumn Savoy, of Hollis, will be sentenced April 27 on obstruction of justice charges. He was not at the Cates home, but hours after the attacks helped conceal evidence
and agreed to provide an alibi for Gribble and Spader.
David Cates was escorted out of court through a secure corridor and didn't want to speak to the press, Strelzin said.
"This is some sort of endpoint for the Cates family," Strelzin said. "There's certainly a sense of relief. But every single day they bear the burden of what's happened."
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
