A New Jersey court has denied a Phillipsburg man's attempt to have his murder conviction and sentence overturned.
Donald O'Grady Jr., previously found guilty in the 2006 murder and robbery of a 75-year-old town woman, claimed in the appeal that his 50-year prison sentence was excessive and his attorney was unfairly disparaged by prosecutors during trial.
But the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division dismissed both claims in a ruling Thursday, upholding the 48-year-old's sentence and conviction.
O'Grady and Thor Frey, of Bangor, were each convicted of murder during separate trials in 2009, three years after Mary Bostian was killed during a burglary.
According to authorities, the two were stealing a safe containing thousands
of dollars from Bostian's home on Thomas Street
when O'Grady smothered her with a blanket. Police in Pennsylvania
arrested the two men about a week after the murder in a Plainfield
Frey's conviction was vacated by the Appellate Division in 2011 because, according to the ruling, he should have been charged with a lesser offense. Frey was retried and again found guilty before being sentenced in April 2013 to 40 years in prison.
In his own attempt at getting his sentence vacated, O'Grady argued prosecutors unfairly disparaged his attorney, Karl Keys, during closing arguments and deprived him of a right to a fair trial.
At one point, according to records, an assistant prosecutor called various claims made by the defense questioning O'Grady's involvement in the burglary "absolutely ridiculous." The prosecutor also described as "nonsense" the defense's assertion that details of the crime in O'Grady's taped confession weren't based on his involvement but rather things he learned through news accounts.
The appellate judges said there was nothing improper about the prosecution's comments.
"Although the assistant prosecutor might have used more polite language in responding to the defense counsel's assertions, the remarks were not egregious and did not deny the defendant of his right to a fair trial," they wrote.
The appeals court also discounted the idea that O'Grady's lengthy prison term was excessive. The judge fairly weighed all the factors and the sentences "do not represent an abuse of the judge's sentencing discretion and do not shock the judicial consciousness," according to Thursday's ruling.
Currently serving his sentence in New Jersey State Prison, O'Grady is eligible for parole in 2049.