The 30-year-old man who beat a Bangor musician to death in 2018 was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison for the manslaughter charge.
Donald Galleck, who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge in January, was sentenced at the Penobscot Judicial Center on Friday morning. At the sentencing, friends and family of his victim, 40-year-old Jason Moody, described how they’ve been affected by his death and argued that eight years was too lenient.
Galleck was previously charged with depraved indifference murder and intentional or knowing murder in the Nov. 11, 2018 beating of Moody, who died from his injuries two days later at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center.
Galleck got into a confrontation with Moody after he was asked to leave Moody’s Willow Street apartment because Galleck was fighting with his girlfriend, Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber said during the plea hearing.
A friend of Galleck’s later told police he accidentally broadcast the incident to her over his cellphone on Facebook Messenger. The video was not saved or downloaded, however, so it could not be presented to a jury as evidence.
Because of that, the woman who claimed she viewed the slaying live could not be called to testify about what she saw, according to Galleck’s defense team.
On Friday, Moody’s mother, Brenda Kurr, said that learning her son was in the hospital “was the begining of nightmare that continues to torture me to this day.” Through tears, she continued, “Even in his last hours, he was trying to help other people and to protect them from violence. I will forever be haunted by the fact that my son was murdered for being kind and the man who beat him to death will get off with so little.”
Galleck, who showed little emotion during the sentencing, told Justice Ann Murray that there are “no words that can express the regret I have for” Moody’s death. He said that there are “things I could have done differently” and apologized to Moody’s family: “I want the family to know that I understand why they’re so upset with me.”
Galleck entered an Alford plea, admitting that the prosecution could prove he is guilty of manslaughter but disagreeing with the facts of the case that would have been presented at a trial. His plea agreement calls for a recommended sentence of eight years in prison and restitution of nearly $2,400 to Maine’s Victim Compensation Fund for funeral expenses.