ALFRED — Kimberly Spampinato was sentenced to spend the rest of her life in jail, with no parole, for murdering her husband, Christopher Spampinato, by setting him afire in their Wells apartment on Jan. 8.

Christopher Spampinato died nine days later with burns covering more than 85 percent of his body.

Justice Paul Fritzsche handed down the sentence Thursday afternoon, citing the “extreme cruelty” of the act as the basis for his decision. Spampinato also received the maximum 30-year sentence for the related charge of arson, to be served concurrently.

“In this case, the person was murdered in a way that was particularly cruel ”¦ and unusually horrible,” said Fritzsche. “There is only one sentence that can be imposed.”

Spampinato pleaded guilty to the murder and arson charges in August. She was calm and unemotional throughout the hearing Thursday and had no visible reaction to the sentencing.

“I would not be angry to get a life sentence at all,” she said, addressing the judge during the proceedings. “It would be a relief.

“I took responsibility for this and gave a full confession. I’ve been waiting 10 months for this day, to be sentenced and move on.”

In letters that Spampinato sent to friends and others after the murder, she said she killed seven other people, but this allegation was not considered in court. As well, a requested $6,629 in victim’s compensation, to be provided through Spampinato’s work while imprisoned, was denied based on the decision that she would be unlikely to be able to work.

Friends and family members of Christopher Spampinato exchanged hugs upon hearing the sentence. During the hearing, Christopher Spampinato’s mother and sister addressed the court, as did his friend, Corinne Dube. Kimberly Spampinato’s ex-husband and son also spoke.

Many become emotional while speaking of their experiences with the couple. All of them asked Fritzsche to impose a life sentence.

Donald Stevens, who was married to Kimberly Spampinato for 18 years, spoke at length during the hearing, delineating years of abuse that he and his son experienced from her.

“There were nights when I would be awoken with the touch of a knife blade to my throat,” he said. “In my case, I was lucky enough to be awake to defend myself.”

Stevens said that Spampinato “loves to control and manipulate any way she can” and said he would fear for his family if she were ever to be let out of prison.

“We want to go on with our lives and not go on looking over our shoulder,” said Stevens. “If she is ever paroled, there is no doubt she will kill again.”

The couple’s son, Donald Stevens III, told the court how his mother attacked him with a knife when he was a teenager and said he was asking for a life sentence “because she’s a very dangerous threat.”

Jennifer Cabot, Christopher Spampinato’s sister, referred to Kimberly Spampinato as a “monster” and shared excerpts from a letter Kimberly wrote to her after the murder: “Killing your brother was fun; it still puts a smile on my face; I only wish I could’ve made the pain last longer.”

“True justice would be the end of Kim’s life in the same manner she ended Chris’ life,” said Cabot.

Christopher Spampinato’s mother, Ann Cabot, showed Fritzsche photographs of her son and spoke of the toll that the murder has taken on the family.

“This sick, violent individual should not be allowed the  privilege of taking another breath,” she said of Spampinato.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese asked for a sentence of 55 years to life for Spampinato. She said Thursday in court that extreme cruelty was evident in the case because Christopher was alive for a period of time and conscious while he waited for an ambulance to arrive and during the ambulance ride.

“He must have known he was going to die,” she said.

Premeditation was also evident, said Marchese, as Spampinato purchased gas in the afternoon of the murder, had to roll out the newspaper, drench the bed with gas and light it afire.

Marchese described the murder as “domestic violence at its worst,” as Christopher had decided to leave the relationship and Kimberly felt she was losing control.

“People should be able to leave a relationship safely,” she said. “She presents a real danger to society.”

Spampinato’s attorney, Sarah Churchill, argued that the time span of the premeditation was not long enough to warrant a life sentence and stated that burning someone alive was “not the worst way a murder can be committed,” citing incidents of prolonged torture. Churchill asked Fritzsche to consider a sentence of 35-45 years instead, saying that Spampinato would then be elderly at her release and would not pose a threat to society.

Churchill also noted Spampinato’s history of sexual, physical and emotional abuse as a child, which led to a history of mental illness and drug abuse. The letters expressing pride in the murder are “awful,” she said, but “more a result of her mental illness than anything else.”

Some humanity does still exist in Spampinato, Churchill said, evidenced by the defendant’s concern that her children know she would take responsibility for her actions.

Even so, Fritzsche described the case as “chilling” and said that while there was enough evidence to support premeditation, he was basing the imposition of a life sentence on the provision of “extreme cruelty.”

“It is clear that for a significant period of time he was conscious, in pain and suffering,” Fritzsche said of Christopher Spampinato. “It had to have been unspeakably horrible.”

He also noted that at no point has Kimberly Spampinato offered an apology to the family, which he called “very telling.”

He expressed condolences to the friends and family of Christopher Spampinato, on behalf of the state.

— City Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 322 or kristenm@journaltribune.com.