Brian Cavitt

Case record: Brian Cavitt

STATUS

Brian Cavitt was sentenced to life in prison on December 11, 2007.

Background

Brian K. Cavitt was 24 years old at the time of the trial and sentencing. He was from Springfield.

The victims were Edelmira Miranda, 67, and Milagros R. Rosario, 69, who lived in their Carew Street home in Springfield. Maria Milagros Miranda and Omayra Santos were daughters of the couple.

The offence

A Hampden Superior Court jury convicted Brian Cavitt of murdering an elderly couple and setting fire to their Carew Street home.

The jury convicted Cavitt on two counts of first degree murder, arson, masked armed robbery, and assault and battery. He was also found guilty of one count each of arson, armed robbery while masked, and assault and battery.

Cavitt stabbed Edelmira Miranda and Milagros R. Rosario in their Carew Street home and then set the house on fire on May 5, 2006.

The arson count related to at least two fires Cavitt set to cover evidence, including one fire set on Edelmira Miranda's bedclothes as she lay in bed and one near Rosario's body.

The armed robbery was at the Big Y supermarket. Cavitt was trying to hide from police when he went to the apartment of the couple, whom he did not know. Cavitt also said during sentencing that he did not force himself into the Carew Street apartment on May 5, 2006; he said Rosario let him in, but when Rosario found out he was running from police "he tried to kick me out."

Investigation

At the time of the verdict and sentencing, Victim-Witness Advocate Kathleen O'Connor was involved with the victims' family in court.

Trial

A Hampden Superior Court jury found Cavitt guilty on five of the six charges he was facing, including two counts of first degree murder, arson, masked armed robbery and assault and battery.

When the verdict was announced, about two dozen family members and friends of the victims cried in court.

During the sentencing day, Judge Judd J. Carhart had warned Cavitt he should speak to his lawyer William J. O'Neil before he spoke, but Cavitt refused.

Cavitt made a statement after the verdict and again at sentencing. He said:

"I did kill them," he said of Edelmira Miranda, 67, and Milagros R. Rosario, 69. "I didn't want to."

Cavitt also said during sentencing:

"I've been doing this prison since I was 17,"

Cavitt said he did not want to go back to prison and that was what was in his mind at the time of the murders. He also said:

"I'm not necessarily a monster. I'm a little screwed up,"

Sentencing

The sentencing occurred on December 11, 2007.

Assistant District Attorney Brett J. Vottero sought consecutive sentences. He said that even though the life sentence for one count of murder did not offer the possibility of parole, he wanted to ask for consecutive life sentences as a symbolic recognition of each victim.

Judge Judd J. Carhart sentenced Cavitt to consecutive life sentences on each count of murder and another consecutive 20-25 year sentence on the armed robbery count, to begin after the consecutive life sentences.

Cavitt said he knew he had to serve a life sentence without parole for the murders and that he accepted that.

Cavitt was sentenced to consecutive life sentences for the murder counts, and an additional consecutive 20-25 year sentence on the armed robbery count.

Maria Milagros Miranda and Omayra Santos delivered impact statements during the sentencing phase.

Maria Milagros Miranda said:

"How could he do this? He is nothing but a monster, a cold-blooded killer and he has no remorse for what he did. He thinks he killed two elderly people that were worthless, but he killed our Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa."

Maria Miranda also said during the sentencing:

"I can't imagine how scared my father and mother were when the defendant entered their home and as my mother lay on her bed listening to him killing my father, how horrible that must have been for her knowing she would be next to die,"

Maria Miranda also said her whole family had been "traumatized with the horrific death our parents had to go through." Maria Miranda said:

"And she said, 'Honey, if God decides it's time for me to leave this world, I will go knowing that all my children are grown and they can take care of themselves."

Omayra Santos said:

"My parents were generous, loving, caring, honest human beings," Santos said. "They didn't care who you were. If you needed anything from them, they would lend us a helping hand."

During sentencing, a “shocking twist” occurred when the victims' family heard from Cavitt himself. A statement attributed to Maria described Cavitt’s admission and her view of his character:

"I wanted him to admit that he killed my parents, and that's what he did today... he said he wasn't a monster, but he is a monster," said Maria. "He killed my mother and my father in cold blood."

Brett J. Vottero responded to the crimes and verdict with:

"I think the crimes and the verdict tell us everything we need to know about Brian Cavitt."

Other details

Victims and family background

Maria Milagros Miranda and Omayra Santos were the couple’s daughters.

Maria described grief and shock after thinking her parents were dead from a fire and then learning that their parents had been stabbed to death and the fires were set. Maria said:

Edelmira Miranda had two strokes and needed a hospital bed and wheelchair.

Rosario worked for 30 years as a machine operator.

Eldelmira Miranda relished her role as homemaker, mother, foster mother and mother figure.

Maria said her parents fell in love when they were living in the same building in the mid-1970s.

Maria said she once told her mother she could not see her life without her. The statement about her mother deciding to leave the world was quoted above.

Place of incarceration

Cavitt would serve his double-life sentence at Massachusetts Correctional Institution - Cedar Junction.

Timeline

• May 5, 2006 — Brian Cavitt stabbed Edelmira Miranda and Milagros R. Rosario in their Carew Street home and set the house on fire.