May 1, 2016
For Immediate Release
Contact: Paul Jarvey (508) 368-7241
WORCESTER — Aldo W. Dunphe of Spencer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole today after being found guilty on Monday of first-degree murder in the slaying of a fellow patient in the psychiatric ward of UMass-Memorial Medical Center, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.
Mr. Dunphe, 26, beat, choked and tried to suffocate Ratna Bhattarai on Nov. 5, 2013. Mr. Bhattarai died two days later. A Worcester Superior Court jury found that Mr. Dunphe carried out the killing with extreme atrocity or cruelty, one of the two theories of first-degree murder presented by prosecutors.
Judge James R. Lemire imposed the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder of life without parole. He also sentenced Mr. Dunphe to 9-10 years in prison for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and 4-5 years for assault and battery causing serious bodily injury. Those sentences will run concurrently with the life sentence.