It was a case described by a judge as “one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen”.
In July 2016, the bloodied and beaten body of 50-year-old Craig Rideout was discovered wrapped in a tarp in the woods in Yates County, New York, prosecutors say. The man’s face had been doused in acid to mask his identity.
On Friday, Mr Rideout’s estranged wife, Laura Rideout, 46, and the couple’s son Colin Rideout, 24, were sentenced to maximum terms for killing him and dumping his body, TIME reports.
The mother and son were each sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for second-degree murder charges. Ms Rideout was also given 15 years for second-degree burglary.
“This case was premeditated, it was evil, and it was diabolical,” Supreme Court Justice Thomas Moran said.
Although Mr Rideout’s other son, Alexander Rideout, was acquitted of murder charges, he was found guilty of two counts of tampering with evidence.
The mother and son were convicted of strangling Mr Rideout with a homemade garrote before disfiguring his face in acid and concealing his body in a field.
Prosecturos had claimed that the husband and wife were going through a bitter divorce and custody battle over the youngest of their seven children, USA Today reports.
Before Mr Rideout’s death, Ms Rideout and their children were living with her boyfriend, Paul Tucci. In July, Mr Tucci was aquitted from murder charges.
Mr Rideout’s sister, Robbyn Drew, paid tribute to her sibling before the sentence was announced.
“There’s nothing to be done to bring my brother back,” she said. “My hope is that he is be remembered as the kind, loving man he was.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
