SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A man in Puerto Rico who set fire to his family’s New Year’s Day gathering has been sentenced to 198 years in prison for killing six people.
A judge in the U.S. island territory sentenced Justino Sanchez Diaz on charges that included murder and attempted murder. Sanchez used gasoline and a makeshift blowtorch to attack the New Year’s Day gathering in the northern town of Florida.
Among those killed were the man’s nephew and his fiance, Kate Donahue of Seattle. She had come to the island to meet the family of her soon-to-be-husband.
Prosecutor Wilson Gonzalez said Monday that Sanchez would not be eligible for parole until after 115 years so it’s effectively a life sentence for the 48-year-old.
