54 Years In Prison For Man Convicted Of 2013 Highland Park Murder

WAUKEGAN, IL — The first person to be sentenced in the 2013 murder of 20-year-old Colin Nutter was sentenced to 54 years in prison Friday. Philip Vatamaniuc, now 22, was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of the Highland Park college student in April 2017. He was 17 when he and two accomplices, fellow Highland Park High School student Benjamin Schenk of Highwood, who has pleaded guilty, and Michael Coffee of Highland Park, who awaits trial, allegedly conspired to rob Nutter by setting up a marijuana deal.

Instead of robbing him, one of the three fatally shot him as they sat in his car in a dead end on the border of Highland Park and Highwood, according to prosecutors.

Schenk and Vatamaniuc have each fingered each other as the shooter.

Prosecutors said they returned to Nutter's parents house, broke in, and stole drugs and a car after the murder. Nutter’s body was found in Wilmette near the Edens Expressway by a teenager as she walked her dog.

Vatamaniuc apologized to Nutter's family during his sentencing hearing, the Lake County News-Sun reported.

"I cannot fathom the pain you have endured in all of this...I didn’t have the honor to know Colin and get to know the person he is. I am sorry I did not have the courage to do something to save him,” Vatamaniuc said.

He went on to directly address the man he's convicted of murdering as a teenager.

"Colin, I wish I had known you. To say you were a great person is an understatement. For your life to be tragically snuffed out is more than despicable. I feel the world needed more people like him," he said, according to the News-Sun.

The day before his sentencing, Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti rejected a last minute motion by defense attorneys hired after Vatamaniuc's conviction last year for a new trial. They argued his attorney had not properly explained the terms of a plea deal offered in 2013 that would have seen him serve fewer than 13 years.

Despite Vatamaniuc's testimony that he would have accepted the deal if he'd understood it, prosecutors presented transcripts showing he had been offered a full description. His lawyer testified Vatamaniuc's father insisted he did not want his son to plead guilty.

Judge Rosetti ruled Thursday that Vatamaniuc had been adequately represented throughout the bench trial and moved forward with sentencing.

Schenk's plea agreement allows for a sentence of between 20 and 60 years. It has not yet been finalized, and his next court appearance has been set for April 24.

Vatamaniuc faced a sentence of between 35 and 75 years.

Nutter's father told the News-Sun that he considered the 54-year sentence to be just.

"I think that Mr. Vatamaniuc is a dangerous person who needs to be kept out of society," Michael Nutter said. "I hope he can be rehabilitated in prison."

Assistant State's Attorney Jeff Paveletic said he hoped the case helped make some progress toward closure for the Nutter family, according to the News-Sun.

"In a case like this there are no winners, no losers, only justice," he said.

Past Coverage of the Colin Nutter Murder:

• Highland Park Man Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder for 2013 Drug Deal Turned Deadly
• Drug Deal Turned Deadly, HP Teens Among Accused
• Defendant in Murder Case Seeks Plea Deal
• Private Conference Held for 1 Charged with Murder
• Defendants in Colin Nutter Murder Case Go on Trial
• Trial Dates Postponed for 3 Charged with Colin Nutter's Murder
• Nutter Shooting Suspect Threw Chair at Jail Guard
• Nutter Murder Suspect IDs Another as Shooter
• Accused Shooter in Colin Nutter Murder Case Gets New Trial
• Murder Victim's Family Remembers Loving, Hard-Working Young Man