RONKONKOMA, N.Y. (1010 WINS) – A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison over a 2022 double homicide on Long Island, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Thursday.
Brian Cordovano, 50, of Ronkonkoma, was sentenced Wednesday for killing Ian Saalfield, 45, and Robert Julian, 59, in April 2022.
According to officials, on April 26, 2022, Saalfield was reported missing by his wife and told police that she last saw her husband the day before with Cordovano, his childhood friend.
Saalfield’s wife saw her husband leave their Lake Grove home with Cordovano at approximately 8:00 p.m., when he drove off in Saalfield’s white 2015 Lexus. Saalfield never returned home.
Days later, on May 2, 2022, officials discovered Saalfield’s Lexus abandoned in a parking lot in Holtsville. That same day, police responded to a call from a Ronkonkoma motel where Cordovano was suffering from an overdose.
While Cordovano was being transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, the Suffolk County Police Department was able to link a silver 2004 Toyota Corolla left in the motel parking lot to Cordovano.
A registration check revealed that the car belonged to Robert Julian.
Police responded to Julian’s home where they discovered the bodies of Saalfield and Julian inside, each dead due to gunshot wounds to the head.
Investigators determined that Cordovano killed both men on April 25, 2022.
On Oct. 9, Cordovano pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, three counts of robbery, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
“Any justice obtained in this case does not allow Mr. Saalfield and Mr. Julian to see their families again, nor allow their families to say goodbye,” D.A. Tierney said. "Justice does, however, allow us to keep a violent individual like this defendant from harming others for a long time. Today, we hope that this sentence brings some form of closure to the victims’ families and loved ones."