Families Vent Anger At Convicted Murderer In Sonoma Courtroom

SANTA ROSA - The family members of two of the three men who were killed execution-style during a marijuana deal in Sonoma County three years ago castigated the defendant Mark Cappello before he was sentenced to multiple life sentences this morning.

"It's over for you, you're done. I hope it gets to the point where you want to kill yourself. I hope you kill yourself," said Robert Lewin, 63, of New York, the brother of victim Richard Lewin, 46, of Huntington, New York. "This man is pure evil. I requested the death penalty. I want to see this man dead," Lewin said in Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Robert LaForge's courtroom.

Leslie King, 61, the mother of victim Raleigh Butler, 26, of Truckee, said her family asked the district attorney's office to take the death penalty off the table, but she told Cappello he deserved to die. "True evil exists and I feel I am looking at it when I look at you. I shove all your evil back to you where it belongs," King said.

Minutes later, LaForge sentenced Cappello to three consecutive life state prison terms without the possibility of parole for the murders, plus 100 years to life and six years and eight months for gun enhancements and lesser charges.

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

A jury deliberated less than six hours before convicting him on March 25 of the shooting murders of Lewin, Butler and Todd Klarkowski, 42, of Boulder, Colorado in Butler's family's cabin in Forestville on Feb. 5, 2013. The panel also found true enhancements alleging murder while lying in wait, for financial gain and during a robbery.

Also on Patch: Colorado Man Found Guilty Of Forestville Marijuana Murders

Cappello recruited two men to drive their truck from his home in Central City, Colorado, to Sonoma County to pick up the marijuana Lewin and Klarkowski were buying from him and to transport it back to Colorado and eventually to New York.

While Butler, Lewin and Klarkowski were packaging the estimated 100 pounds of marijuana for transport in the bedroom of the cabin, Cappello shot each of them once in the head and left with cash and the pot in his Ford Bronco.

Odin Dwyer, 41, a Denver-area resident, witnessed the shooting and helped load 69 pounds of marijuana into Cappello's truck. He testified Cappello told him the murders "had to be done."

Dwyer and his father, Francis Dwyer, 71, of New Mexico drove back to Colorado with the marijuana.

Both also were charged with the murders and conspiracy but agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges for lighter sentences and to testify against Cappello at the trial.

Defense attorney Joseph Stogner tried to convince the jury the Dwyers were the killers. The Dwyers and Cappello were arrested and in custody by March 1, 2013.

Butler's brother Dylan also addressed Cappello in court this morning.

"It is unbelievable ... unbelievable you thought that you could pull this off and get away with it," he said. "You ripped our family apart in the worst possible way for greed," Butler said.

Butler's father Robert, 64, said the loss of his son "is about the future I cannot have." "I am proud of what Raleigh gave to the world in his short 24 years," Robert Butler said.

King, Raleigh's mother, did not spare her anger and at one point Cappello appeared close to tears.

He did not speak during the sentencing hearing.

Regarding Cappello's daughter who lives in Brazil, King asked him, "What would you say to a man who shot your daughter in the head? What would you say to him?" "I wanted two things, a guilty verdict and for you to look me in the eye and apologize with a sincere admission of guilt," King said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady told the judge the case was "unusual in its brutality."

Brady said Cappello began planning the murders weeks and possibly months in advance. "This was a very calculated, very brutal intentional execution," Brady said.

Cappello has never shown remorse and has no regard for human life, the prosecutor said.

Stogner told the judge he hoped the sentencing would be a significant moment in healing of the victims' families and the community.

Also on Patch:

• Marijuana Murder Trial: Jury Begins Deliberations
• Marijuana Murder Trial: Closing Arguments
• Marijuana Murder Trial: Final Arguments Scheduled
• Marijuana Murder Trial: Odin Dwyer Testimony
• Court Testimony: Forestville Marijuana Murder

-Bay City News, image via ShutterStock