NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release Tuesday for the vicious killings of a couple and their adult son in what prosecutors called a drug deal that escalated into a home invasion.
Sergio Correa, from Hartford, was convicted by a jury in December of murder and 12 other charges in the 2017 fatal beatings of Kenneth Lindquist, 56, and his wife, Janet Lindquist, 61, and the stabbing and slashing killing of their son, Matthew Lindquist, 21, at the family’s Griswold home.
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Superior Court Judge Hunchu Kwak in New London imposed the life prison sentence — plus an additional 105 years behind bars — on Correa after relatives and friends of the victims gave emotional statements.
Correa maintained his innocence in brief comments he made in court, The Day newspaper reported.
Correa’s sister who took part in the killings, Ruth Correa, was sentenced later Tuesday by a different judge to 40 years in prison, under an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to murder and testify against her brother.
Eric Lindquist, whose parents and brother were murdered, told the judge he planned to advocate for stronger criminal justice policies. He noted Sergio Correa had been released from prison several months before the killings after finishing a robbery sentence.
“Your honor, there is no sentence you can issue in accordance with existing law that is harsh enough to allow me or many of the friends and family in court with me to receive justice for the heinous acts of this man,” he said at Sergio Correa’s sentencing.
Police and prosecutors said Matthew Lindquist made a deal with Sergio Correa to trade his parents’ guns for drugs and cash. But when Correa and his sister arrived, they chased Matthew Lindquist into the woods and Sergio Correa struck him with a machete, authorities said. The brother and sister then stabbed and slashed him more than 60 times, officials said.
The Correas then went to the Lindquist home, where Sergio Correa beat Kenneth Lindquist to death with a baseball bat, prosecutors said. Sergio Correa then attacked Janet Lindquist with the bat and strangled her, prosecutors said.
The Correas collected valuables in the home, including cash, jewelry and even the family’s Christmas presents, and set the house on fire as they fled, police said.
