A Rhode Island man was sentenced to life in prison after fatally stabbing an elderly woman and concealing her body beneath a mattress.
Matthew Dusseault, 28, received the sentence, which includes the possibility of parole, on November 18 at Providence Superior Court, according to local news sites WJAR and WPRI.
Dusseault was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2016 killing of 81-year-old Constance Gauthier, according to a news release from the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office.
On March 23, 2016, Gauthier was found with over 60 stab wounds under a mattress at her home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. According to the announcement, police responded to Gauthier’s home after a neighbor reported seeing her motionless on the floor via the bedroom window.
According to the announcement, the home appeared to have been looted, but nothing was taken. A police swab matched DNA samples recovered at the crime scene, leading to Dusseault’s identification. Prosecutors did not disclose a motive.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha described Gauthier as a “vibrant, active woman whose life was tragically cut short.”
“I can only hope that those who loved her feel a sense of closure knowing that justice has been served,” according to his release.
Dusseault was 18 at the time of the crime, and his counsel has claimed that his client should be considered for parole because of his age, according to WJAR.
He has maintained his innocence for years and testified in court throughout his hearing. “For the past seven years, I’ve been labeled as a criminal and treated like an animal, I ask where’s the justice in this world,” Dusseault said, according to WJAR.
Following the punishment, Gauthier’s niece, Sandy Paul, stated that she will “never understand” the “brutality in how she was taken,” according to WPRI.
