Providence Man Sentenced To 42 Years For 2015 Murder

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Providence man convicted of the 2015 murder of Zenaida Pacheco will serve more than 40 years in state prison, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha announced Friday.

Efrain Blanco, 38, will serve 42 years of a 60 year sentence at Rhode Island's Adult Correctional Institutes, and an 18-year-suspended sentence with probation. This comes after Blanco pled guilty to second-degree murder in January.

"The day has finally come when this defendant must pay the price for his senseless murder of Zenaida Pacheco, a woman much loved by her family and her community," said Neronha.

"Nothing can return Zenaida to her family, but we can deliver justice for her and for them, and that has now been achieved. The defendant has been removed from the community, to spend decades in confinement, his ability to harm others eliminated. He deserves every one of the 42 years imprisonment to which he has been sentenced."

The case dates back to Oct. 25, 2015, when it was determined that Blanco used a power cord to strangle Pacheco to death in her apartment on Randall Street.

Police were able to identify a suspect based on evidence gathered during an investigation, which included cell phone records and surveillance footage. A week after the killing, police released photos of Blanco, then a suspect, to media outlets, seeking public assistance.

He was arrested shortly after, when a Providence citizen identified Blanco and reported the sighting to police.