PORTLAND, Maine — A Maine man convicted in his infant son’s death 39 years ago is going to prison.
A judge on Tuesday sentenced 63-year-old Burton Hagar to 15 years in prison after Hagar pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 4-month-old Nathan Hagar in Brunswick.
The Portland Press Herald reported that the child’s mother, Venus Nappi, said she’s glad her son “gets some justice for all the things that were done to him.”
[Judge rules infant’s death 39 years ago was homicide]
The plea deal moved forward after a judge ruled that the death was a homicide, and not sudden infant death syndrome.
Defense lawyer Verne Paradie said he’s challenging the judge’s ruling to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and that the plea can be withdrawn. Hagar repeatedly admitted to his son’s death, but Paradie said the confessions are unreliable.
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