Crime & Safety

Murder Victim's Family Pushes for More Prison Time

Kathryn McDonough of Portsmouth, N.H., will serve 1 1/2 to 3 years in State Prison after she pleaded guilty to her role in the Elizabeth Marriott murder case.

Written by Robert Cook

Family members of murdered University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott of Westborough pleaded for more prison time for a Portsmouth, N.H., woman who pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to police and destroying evidence in the case.

One by one, Marriott's family members and friends addressed the court about why they wanted to see Kathryn McDonough, 19, of Portsmouth receive a harsher sentence than the 1-1/2 to 3 years she received as part of a negotiated plea bargain with state prosecutors.

Melissa Marriott, Lizzi's mother, said she didn't approve of the plea deal and said that McDonough was just as much to blame for her daughter's death as Seth Mazzaglia, 30, of Dover, N.H., who police say strangled Lizzi Marriott in his apartment on Oct. 9, 2012 before he and McDonough dumped her body into the Piscataqua River on Peirce Island in Portsmouth.

Melissa Marriott said McDonough's decision to lie to police about her daughter, followed by her decision to destroy key evidence were "the actions of a cold, calculating woman who was trying to stay out of trouble."

She told McDonough, who was seated a the defense table with her lawyer, Andrew Cotrupi of Portsmouth, "You owe Lizzi a major debt" for receiving a lesser prison sentence.

One of Lizzi Marriott's grandmothers said to McDonough, "You were there and you did nothing. How can you live with yourself?" She left McDonough with three words that she said summed up McDonough's actions on the night of her granddaughter's murder: "Betrayal, lies, silence."

McDonough fought back tears as more family members and friends remembered Lizzi and urged the court to impose a stiffer prison sentence.

Brittany Atwood, who said she was Lizzi Marriott's best friend, said her friend "was too good and pure to see the evil in Kat," who she said lured Lizzi to Mazzaglia's apartment. She said McDonough's choice to do nothing as Mazzaglia strangled her friend was the most reprehensible thing of all.

"Kat could have prevented this from happening if she had just done the right thing," Atwood said.

Susan Bailey, one of Lizzi Marriott's aunts, told McDonough, "May you always be haunted by Lizzi's pleas to save her life. May you always be haunted by Lizzi's screams."

Bob Marriott, Lizzi Marriott's father, told the court he wished New Hampshire had an accessory to murder charge so that McDonough would have received more prison time. He said he and many of his family members and friends are still in a state of shock about his daughter's death.

"I don't know what to say and there are no words to capture all of my grief and rage about all that has happened," he said.

Cotrupi told the court that despite all of the speculation about the events that took place in Mazzaglia's apartment on the night of Lizzi Marriott's murder, McDonough had nothing to do with her death.

Judge Marguerite Wageling sentenced McDonough to three consecutive 3-1/2 to 7 year state prison terms for each of the three Class B felonies of witness tampering, hindering apprehension or prosecution and conspiracy to commit hindering apprehension or prosecution, with all but five years suspended.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said McDonough will serve 1-1/2 to 3 years in state prison.

After passing sentence, Wageling told the court she didn't feel the punishment fit the crime, but added "the negotiation is the right thing to do for this case."

She admonished McDonough for being "cowardly" and "uncaring" and said she will have to live with her actions for the rest of her life.


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