Man Sentenced To 15-30 Years In Jail In Ex-Girlfriend's Strangulation Death
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A man has been sentenced to jail time in connection with the strangulation death his former girlfriend after she broke off their affair.
Robert Metz, Sr., 68, pleaded guilty in January to one count each of third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. He has now been sentenced to 15-30 years in a state corrections facility.
#BREAKING: The judge sentenced Robert Metz to 15-30 years in a state correctional facility for the strangulation death of Dolores Miller @KDKA pic.twitter.com/qLd35VpPDs
— MEGHAN SCHILLER (@MeghanKDKA) April 4, 2019
Metz admitted to strangling Miller inside his Ross Township apartment last June after she tried to end their relationship.
Detectives said Miller was gathering her belongings from his apartment when he killed her. He left her body inside the apartment, hid her car and threw her cell phone in a nearby lake.
Metz told the judge that he was pleading guilty "because I am guilty." He also said that something came over him and he didn't understand what had happened.
He wore red prison jumpsuit and handcuffs in court, and told the judge, "I didn't come here looking for forgiveness. I can't even forgive myself. What I did, that wasn't me."
His public defender, Christopher Patarini, told the judge that he suffered from mental illness and depression. Several of Metz's family members told the judge that he "just snapped" and had no criminal record or history of violence.
Dozens of Miller's family members, including her only child, several nephews, and husband read "impact statements" to the judge in hopes of painting a picture of her personality and character. The victim's daughter, Kristen Miller, said Metz robbed her of her mother just a few months shy of her wedding day.
"I mean I feel that no sentence will ever be great enough for the loss that we face of my mother," said Miller. "She's going to be greatly missed, but I'm just happy that we could get some closure."
The public defender asked the judge for a sentence in the mitigating range, but the prosecutor told the judge that countless people suffer from depression and anxiety, but do not kill people with their bare hands. He asked the judge for 15-30 years and the judge granted that request.
