KEY POINTS

  • Heather Barbera will spend 42 years in prison for killing her mother and grandmother
  • Barbera beat the women to death with a police baton that belonged to her father
  • She stole their money and jewelry and boarded a bus to New York City 

A New Jersey woman who admitted on killing her mother and grandmother in 2018 will spend more than four decades in prison.

Despite her apology, the court sentenced 43-year-old Heather Barbera Thursday to 42 years in prison for the brutal killing of her mother, 62-year-old Michelle Gordon, and her grandmother, 87-year-old Elaine Rosen, said Fox News, citing a report from The Press of Atlantic City.

Barbera pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter after beating the women with a police baton inside their Ventnor condo on July 2018, said NJ.com.

woman in handcuffs
23-year-old Sabita Dookram was arrested for allegedly throwing her newborn baby outside a bathroom window. Getty Images/John Moore

Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said Barbera then stole her mother and grandmother's money and credit cards before boarding a bus to New York City.

NYPD arrested Barbera a few days later when officers identified her at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, he added.

“This defendant bludgeoned the two victims to death in their own home, then cleaned herself off. She stole their money and jewelry and, as they were gasping their final breath, she just walked away,” said Assistant Prosecutor Allison.

Defense attorney James Leonard on the other hand pointed that he learned that the suspect came from a “very, very toxic and very unhealthy family dynamic on both sides.”

Leonard also said that Barbera suffered from substance abuse, mental health issues, low self-esteem and emotional instability that “created a very volatile situation that exploded very, very unfortunately.”

Barbera will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years in prison under the terms of her plea agreement. She will also be obliged to pay $7,000 in restitution.

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