An ex-New York cop set for trial Thursday instead pleaded guilty to the brutal execution-style slaying of his girlfriend Catherine D’Onofrio back in 2009.
The move allows Jerry Bowens, 44, to avoid a trial that was supposed to start the same day and that could have resulted in a prison sentence of 50 years to life in prison. Instead, Bowens is now facing 30 years to life in prison for the attack that killed 28-year-old Catherine D’Onofrio.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 15 and won’t be eligible for parole until he is 75.
Bowens was previously convicted of corruption charges related to his work with the Brooklyn narcotics squad. With the D’Onofrio case, Bowens was up against reams of evidence that included eyewitness testimony and confessions that he made to detectives after the shooting.
The plea deal ensures Bowens receives a sentence of at least 25 years for D’Onofrio’s murder and adds additional time for an attempt on the life of D’Onofrio’s friend Melissa Simmons, according to Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus.
“The minimum sentence is beyond his life expectancy,” Marrus told the court, during Thursday’s hearing.
The ruling also spares family members the trauma of an extended trial and the possibility of appeals that could have gone on for years, Marrus added.
But D’Onofrio’s family and friends voiced displeasure with the verdict.
“We don’t understand how anything less than the maximum will be allowed,” D’Onofrio’s sister Laura, told the court. “He intentionally murdered her. It’s unacceptable.”
During the hearing, Bowens looked very uncomfortable as he answered the judge’s questions about the fatal incident at Simmons’ Greenpoint apartment.
“Catherine was shot in the head,” Bowens revealed to the judge during the trial.
