NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK: A woman, 23, hailing from New York was sentenced to around 13 years in prison for her role in helping to plan the brutal murder of her own mother. The Nassau County District Attorney's office announced the news of Francesca Kiel's sentencing which took place on Thursday, September 24. Francesca and her boyfriend beat the mother with a barbell which left the woman in a coma for almost two years before she died.
Francesca pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for helping her boyfriend Ralph Keppler plan the attack on her mother, Theresa Kiel, 56, on July 14. Theresa had been a teacher and a school principal from Long Beach, People reports. Keppler, 30, who was a former city correction officer pleaded guilty in December 2019 to murder charges in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
On June 30, he had been sentenced to around 22 years in prison. Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas released a statement that read, "Francesca Kiel and her boyfriend meticulously planned the attack and murder of her own mother, Theresa Kiel, in December 2016."
"This was a particularly challenging investigation because the co-defendants had worked hard to cover their tracks both before and after the attack," the statement continued. LIHerald.com had reported that Singas had called the attack against Theresa 'barbaric'.
As per a statement issued at the time, Singas had said, "Theresa Kiel was robbed of all quality of life when this defendant allegedly shattered her skull with a metal barbell as she walked to her Long Beach apartment. This barbaric attack, allegedly motivated by a business dispute and perpetrated by a man employed as a corrections officer, has left Ms. Kiel in a persistent vegetative state, and prosecutors in my office are committed to holding this defendant accountable."
Singas revealed that Keppler had waited for Theresa to return to her apartment on December 4, 2016, at around 10:30 pm. When Theresa entered the entrance corridor, Keppler hit her "several times on the head and face with a metal barbell."
As a result of the attack, Theresa suffered from severe brain damage, a shattered skull, a depressed right eye, and had also lost some of her teeth. She had been rushed to the hospital and was in a "vegetative state" until she passed away almost two years later.
Keppler fled from the scene and then returned home, which he was sharing with Francesca. The authorities had learned of Francesca's role in her mother's death much later. Francesca was accused of purchasing a GPS tracking device that had been placed in her mother's car.
Singas said Francesca "set up email alerts that notified her when her mother’s car was in the vicinity of her mother’s home or place of work." On the night that the killing had taken place, the authorities had found that Francesca had called the same Long Beach taxi company, which had picked up Keppler from the area around the murder scene. Francesca was arrested on November 11, 2018. Singas had said, "Our condolences are with Theresa’s mother and brother, as well her many friends and coworkers in the Malverne School system."
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