BREAKING NEWS
Toolan guilty of first-degree murder

Thomas Toolan has been found guilty of premeditated first degree murder in the murder trial of Beth Lochtefeld. He was also found guilty of committing murder with extreme atrocity and cruilty. The 12-person jury returned their verdict this after less than four hours of deliberations that began Wednesday. Toolan was also found guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Toolan was sentenced to life without parole in the Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Cedar Junction in South Walpole. He was also given a nine to 10 year sentence for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. That sentence will be served concurrently with the life term.

In Massachusetts a conviction of first degree murder has an automatic appeal. Toolan's defense attorney said it can take a year or more for such appeals.

Toolan was brought into court handcuffed for the verdict - he had not been handcuffed throughout the trial. He left the courtroom in ankle shackles after the sentencing.

Beth's sister, Catherine, read a victim's statement following the sentencing. She said, in part: "We can never forget the sorrow brought on by her death. Our grief was sharp, intense, palpable and difficult to bear. We do not rejoice that Mr. Toolan's parents have for all intents and purposes lost their son just as our parents have lost their daughter. But this dangerous man will never be able to harm another person."

After closing arguments on Wednesday morning the jury heard complex instructions on the law from Judge Richard F. Connon as well as the verdicts they must decide among, then he dismissed the panel for lunch at 1:30 p.m., after which they started deliberating the case. At 4 p.m. the judge let them go home for the day with an order to return at 9 a.m. Thursday morning to begin anew. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington gave his argument first, saying that his client "is a man incapable of onforming to society" and that "he fought the demons unsuccessfully," referring to Toolan's drinking and addiction to edications. "You can see the chipping away - the wearing away - the degeneration," Reddington said of Toolan's mental state, and at the end, asked the jury, "Do you in your heart truly believe that the government has proven to you beyond a reasonable doubt that this man is not suffering from a defect?" He asked the jury to return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Prosecutor Brian Glenny told the jury that there are numbers of people who suffer from mental illness and find themselves at the end of a relationship, but that their drinking and taking medications does not excuse the act of murder. Glenny outlined steps Toolan took starting in New York City and ending on his attempt to return there after the crime that he said indicate his ability at the time to plan and consider his actions. Glenny, who called victim Elizabeth "Beth" Lochtefeld the ultimate victim in this case, told the jury, "Do not be confused by the smoke and mirrors being presented to you by the defense in this case...Thomas Toolan is a cold blooded murderer. I ask that you find him guilty of every charge here."

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