A 23-year-old man was convicted of murdering his teenage ex-girlfriend by stabbing her 32 times after she broke up with him and soon began dating someone else.
Nikolas Lacrosse (above, insert) was found guilty on Wednesday of first-degree murder in the death of Kathryn Mauke (above), who was discovered dead on her kitchen floor in February 2015.
Mauke broke up with Lacrosse a month before she was killed. She was dating another person at the time of her death, according to MassLive.com.
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The defense argued that Lacrosse was not criminally responsible for the killing because he was in a dissociative state when he committed the murder.
Lacrosse claimed he went over to Mauke’s house that day for “clarification” on why she broke up with him. But prosecutors argued that Lacrosse stabbed her 32 times with the intent to kill.
Assistant District Attorney Mary Sandstrom told jurors during her closing arguments Tuesday:
“The defendant used a level of severity reserved only for cold-blooded murderers. He wanted her dead. He wanted to make sure of it.”
Sentencing will take place Thursday, although first-degree murder charges carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
It is unclear if Lacrosse plans to appeal the conviction.
[Image via Springfield Police Department/Facebook.]
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