January 18, 2007

Sanchez Sentenced to Maximum

Convicted of killing girlfriend, Judge gives 26 1/3 years-to-life

MINEOLA, NY - Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Edgar Sanchez, 35, of Mastic Beach, has been sentenced to serve the maximum sentence of twenty-six and one-third years-to-life in prison by Nassau County Court Judge George R. Peck.

In November of last year, a jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Mr. Sanchez guilty of the October 2005 murder of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Parisi, 24, also of Mastic Beach. He was also found guilty of Tampering with Physical Evidence.

During the trial, jurors heard extensive testimony about Mr. Sanchez’s history of abusing the victim.

“This case is a heartbreaking reminder that our community needs to do more for victims of domestic violence,” said District Attorney Kathleen Rice. “My office is working day and night to improve our ability to assist victims of domestic violence. Hopefully anyone out there in this situation will see what eventually happened to this young woman and will come forward before it’s too late.”

Ms. Parisi’s body was found in a heavily wooded area in Sands Point during the early morning hours of October 15, 2005. Days later, after an extensive effort to identify the body, Nassau County police detectives identified the woman and determined her cause of death to be blunt force trauma.

Edgar Sanchez, the victim’s live-in boyfriend, was arrested by U.S. Marshals October 21 of last year in Geneva, Ohio, on an outstanding warrant issued by Suffolk County stemming from an unrelated DWI charge. The following day, police in Ohio recovered the victim’s car in Highland Hills, a suburb of Cleveland.

Inside the car, police would later find Ms. Parisi’s blood, mixed with Mr. Sanchez’s DNA, indicating the defendant attempted to clean the blood-stained seats of the 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

Handling the case for the District Attorney’s office are Assistant District Attorneys Madeline Singas and Robert Hayden. Mr. Sanchez is being represented by Brian Carmody, Esq., of Westbury.