RUTLAND — Experts agreed that Roderick Geronimo suffered from a “psychotic episode” when he beat his 82-year-old mother to death because he said he believed she was possessed by the devil and he had to save her from damnation.
However, prosecutors and Geronimo’s attorney differed Tuesday on what caused the episode and how much time he should serve behind bars on his manslaughter conviction. The charge stems from the killing of Gertrudes “Gigi” Alwardt on July 2, 2012, in a home she shared with her son in East Poultney.
Geronimo pleaded guilty in July.
Judge Thomas Zonay, after listening to testimony and arguments from both sides in a daylong hearing in Rutland Superior Court, sentenced him to eight to 15 years in prison.
“Such a sentence will allow the Department of Corrections to determine whether (Geronimo’s) treatment needs can be met” in prison or in the community, the judge said. “It will also assure that he would not be released until such time as he is deemed to not be a threat to public safety.”
Geronimo, wearing a dark suit and tie, looked straight ahead and appeared calm as the judge delivered the sentence.
Moments earlier, it was Geronimo speaking to the judge as well as others in the courtroom.
“No one here is more sorry than I (am) about losing my mother,” he said, his wrists and ankles in shackles as he stood at the defense table.
He talked of memories he had of his mother, including going to church as a family and then heading out for a pancake breakfast. He also spoke of the opportunity his parents provided him by adopting him as a child when he was still in the Philippines.
Prosecutors had been seeking a prison sentence of 13 to 15 years. Geronimo’s attorney, Mary Kay Lanthier, argued for a sentence of seven to 11 years, all suspended except 5½ years to serve in prison.
“A message must be sent to the defendant and to anyone else planning to act in a similar manner that there is no excuse for taking the life of a human being,” Rutland County Deputy State’s Attorney Peter Bevere said in seeking a longer prison term than Geronimo received.
“Whether it was because God told him to do it or because he simply flipped and was in a rage, the result is the same.”
Bevere prosecuted the case Tuesday alongside fellow Deputy State’s Attorney John Waszak.
Alwardt was very sick at the time of the killing, according to Bevere, having recently made the decision to stop taking chemotherapy to treat cancer she had been battling for years.
“She was a frail individual, and she died a violent death at the hand of her son,” he added.
Lanthier told the judge that her client served as the sole caregiver for his ailing mother after the death of his father. He did so, the defense attorney said, out of a sense of duty as the only child in the family.
The stress of providing round-the-clock care proved too much for Geronimo, leading to his breakdown, the defense attorney said.
“While that was her son in body, it wasn’t her son there in mind” at the time of the killing, Lanthier said. “All of the experts agree on that.”
Geronimo had initially been charged with second-degree murder, but it was reduced to manslaughter in a plea deal.
In his statement to police played Tuesday in court, Geronimo said he believed it was his duty to come back to Vermont after the death of his father to care for his mother. In addition to cancer, Geronimo told police, his mother suffered from several other ailments, including severe arthritis.
Geronimo said in his statement that he smoked marijuana “all day, every day,” or about an ounce a week. He added that he was taking Lexapro, a prescription drug used to treat depression and anxiety.
On the morning of July 2, 2012, Geronimo said, he heard voices telling him his mother was evil and possessed by the devil and he needed to kill her.
As she sat in the kitchen, Geronimo said, he pushed the kitchen table into her chest area several times, then struck her repeatedly over her head with wine decanters.
The first one shattered, but the second did not, he said, and he filled it with water to pour down her mouth and nose to ensure he had killed her. He told police he believed he was pouring holy water over his mother and blessing her.
“She said, ‘Are you going to kill me?’” Geronimo related in his police statement. “I said, ‘Yes, God told me to.’”
His mother repeatedly told him to stop, he added.
Geronimo told detectives he had been under a great deal of stress caring for his mother. He added that he felt like he could never leave her by herself at home due to her condition and the need to meet her many demands.
“She ruled the home,” Geronimo continued in his statement.
He served 20 years in the Army before eventually moving to Vermont to care for his mother. His wife didn’t accompany him on the move, leading the couple to split, according to court records.
After the killing, Geronimo told police, he went to a neighbor’s home seeking help. Shortly after, back at his home, he called 911 and reported his mother had slipped and fallen and wasn’t breathing.
“Why did you lie?” asked one of the two detectives in the room.
“I was scared,” he replied.
Dr. Philip Kinsler, a clinical and forensic psychologist testifying Tuesday for the defense, said Geronimo had a “mental disorder or defect.” That left Geronimo unable to appreciate the criminality of his actions, Kinsler said.
He told the court Geronimo suffered from a schizophreniform disorder, a condition brought on by extreme stress that can lead to hallucinations and delusions and limits a person’s ability to function.
Dr. Robert Linder, a forensic psychiatrist and expert for the prosecution, did not testify Tuesday. However, Judge Zonay wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Linder believed that Geronimo’s condition was “related to voluntary use of marijuana and not to a mental disease.”
One family member spoke at the hearing, Joseph Bart. He called it a “double tragedy,” saying Alwardt was his aunt and Geronimo was his cousin.
Bart said he understood that Alwardt could be demanding, and he knew the sense of duty his cousin felt to care for her. Bart, who lives in Connecticut, said he was in regular contact with Alwardt and wasn’t aware of any problems she had with her son.
He did speak about how much the mother and son cared for each other.
“I always thought this was a mental health case,” Bart told the judge. “I’m sure that my aunt would want him treated with understanding and leniency.”
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