(WWJ) Two men have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of a jeweler in his Rochester Hills home.
The case shook the Oakland County community last October when 37-year-old Carlos Hernandez and 39-year-old Joshua Zuazo, posing as DTE Energy workers, were allowed into the home of Hussein Murray.
The sheriff’s office said the two men displayed a placard on their truck, wore neon vests, and showed DTE “paperwork” on a clipboard — claiming they were checking for a gas leak.
The pair tied up Murray's wife, Linda Murray, and then beat and strangled her 72-year-old husband in the basement. Linda Murray said the man asked where the safe was, demanding jewelry and money.
Among those to share a victim impact statement in court on Tuesday was the couple's eldest son, Mahoub.
"Carlos Hernandez and Joshua Zuazo robbed my mom of her lifelong companion, her husband of 54 years," he said "My brothers and I were robbed of our hero, our counselor...and just Dad."
Before handing down the sentence, Judge Yasmine Poles called the defendants "pathetic."
“Rarely does the court see this level of depravity,” the judge said. “This level of arrogance and greed. Because that’s what that was all based on. In order for you to fulfill the fantasy of the life that you wanted — the white picket fence, the house — his life meant nothing to you.
“Every step on the way to that basement, on your way down with him, you could’ve said enough is enough,” Poles added. “It has gone too far. But you couldn’t, because it’s a cowardice act, because that’s exactly what you are. It is pathetic. Your actions are absolutely pathetic.”
Along with life for the murder, both men also received 19-80 years in prison for the unlawful imprisonment convictions.
Both Hernandez and Zuazo declined to speak at the sentencing, and both are expected to appeal.