Boglioli’s defense attorney, Mark Harnett, had argued for a much lighter sentence of two to five years, with all but the 14 months he’s already served suspended. Harnett told the court that Boglioli had no history of criminal activity apart from four minor misdemeanor convictions, and had no history of violence. The state requested a sentence of 12 to 15 years. Windham County Deputy State’s Attorney David Gartenstein said aggravating factors, including Boglioli’s failure to take other steps to alleviate an ongoing dispute between him and Riccitelli, and what he called “evidence of the intentional nature of the killing,” called for a maximum sentence. “The state believes all the mitigation the defendant is entitled to has already been reflected in the jury’s decision.”
Boglioli was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in early July, after an eight-day trial and 18 hours of jury deliberation. Boglioli had been charged with second-degree murder, but in her instructions to the jury after the trial, Judge Carroll told jurors they could find Boglioli guilty of voluntary manslaughter if they believed his “mental state was influenced by extenuating circumstances, such as sudden passion or great provocation that would cause a reasonable person to lose self-control.”
Before passing the sentence, Judge Carroll said there were both mitigating and aggravating factors in the case. She said the evidence presented indicated Riccitelli was a violent man, and that the jury found that Boglioli had been provoked. But she said Boglioli could have taken a different course of action on the day of the shooting. “I haven’t heard any reason why, when Mr. Riccitelli said ‘go ahead and shoot me,’ that Mr. Boglioli didn’t shoot in the air, or shoot Mr. Riccitelli in the foot or the leg. He shot him right in the chest.” But Judge Carroll said the lesser sentence recommended by the defense, and a department of corrections recommendation for a five-year minimum sentence, would “devalue” Riccitelli’s life. “A more substantial sentence is necessary to put a value on (Riccitelli’s) life,” she said. “It was (a life) that was special, and as we heard from his daughter, he was that one special person to at least one person. He was a father and a confidant to the people in his family.” From the time of his arrest and at his trial earlier this summer, Boglioli claimed he shot Riccitelli in self-defense after Riccitelli threatened him with an ax handle in an ongoing dispute between the two men. An ax handle later found in a dumpster near the site of the shooting was a key piece of evidence, although its significance was subject to different interpretation by both sides. Boglioli testified that on the day of the shooting, Riccitelli came up behind and followed him, swinging an ax handle, as he took his trash to the dumpster. Boglioli said Riccitelli threatened him, holding the ax handle over his shoulder like a baseball bat. Fearing that Riccitelli intended to hit him with the ax handle, Boglioli took his gun out of his pocket and shot Riccitelli.
Prosecution witnesses who had a partial view of the confrontation on the morning of the shooting said Riccitelli wasn’t carrying anything when he approached Boglioli, and wasn’t holding anything when he fell to the ground after the shot.
Both the prosecution and the defense presented evidence of a conflict between Boglioli and Riccitelli that started more than a decade ago. Prosecutors presented testimony that Boglioli feared that Riccitelli and landlord Ken Willis would evict him from the house he rented from Willis. There was also testimony indicating Boglioli harbored a deep resentment against Riccitelli because he believed Riccitelli had put a cat in his house to kill his pets, a bird and a hamster. Boglioli said he found the cat in his house when he came home from a shopping trip, and admitted that had no direct knowledge of how it got in his house. Prosecutors said Boglioli bought a Ruger .357 Magnum revolver for the express purpose of killing Riccitelli.
The defense presented a very different picture of the relationship between Boglioli and Riccitelli. At one time, the two had been friends, but parted ways after an incident in which Riccitelli physically attacked Boglioli. After that time, the tension between Boglioli and Riccitelli, and Boglioli and Willis, continued to grow, and Riccitelli began menacing Boglioli. The defense suggested that Riccitelli, acting on Willis’ behalf, sought to push Boglioli to leave the premises because they believed he threatened their alleged marijuana growing business. A number of marijuana plants in various stages of development were found on the premises.
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