Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- Judge Gilbert V. Indeglia today sentenced Hamlet M. Lopez to life imprisonment without parole for murdering Lopez's former girlfriend, Miledis Hilario, 40, in her Federal Hill apartment on May 20, 2007.

The judge concluded in Providence County Superior Court that there had been "aggrevated battery and torture" and that Lopez, 53, is not a good candidate for rehabilitation. Those are two legal prerequisites for imposing the maximum sentence in Rhode Island of life in prison without parole.

Indeglia said that "a monster ... dwelling within him" exploded that day and Lopez slashed and stabbed Hilario 40 times, including a four-inch knife thrust to the heart.

Both the prosecution and the Coalition Against Domestic Violence called it a classic case of domestic violence.

Lopez, in his statement to probation officers, continued to proclaim his innocence, as his did family. Lopez had worked as a teacher's aide in city schools and has hosted his own Spanish-language radio show.

His lawyer, John F. Cicilline, immediately filed a notice of appeal with the court.

-- Journal staff writer Gregory Smith, with Journal archival reports

 Tags  murder Providence

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