A man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a man in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Christmas Eve five years ago, prosecutors said Thursday.
Jose Amador-Ayala, 27, was sentenced to life in prison at a hearing in Bristol Superior Court Wednesday, the Bristol County District Attorney's Office said. He has the possibility of being paroled after 22 years.
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Amador-Ayala killed Gary Werra at a home on Angel Street on Dec. 24, 2019, then had his sister help him dispose of the body in the woods near the railroad tracks behind the Gold Medal Bakery complex, prosecutors said.
The sister later confided in her boyfriend and his mother about the fatal stabbing, which Amador-Ayala had admitted to during the drive.
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Court documents obtained by WJAR-TV showed that Amador-Ayala was at Werra's house helping to fix a boiler when an argument broke out. That's when Amador-Ayala allegedly took a knife from the kitchen table and stabbed Werra repeatedly.
Werra had been stabbed 68 times, prosecutors said, and investigators later found that he and Amador-Ayala were involved with the same woman.
"This was a brutal and senseless killing which was apparently motivated by both of their affections for the same woman," District Attorney Thomas Quinn said in a statement. "I appreciate the family’s patience during the almost five year court process. I hope the defendant accepting responsibility for the murder of their loved one will bring them some consolation."
