An upstate New York woman was sentenced Thursday to more than 50 years in prison for poisoning her husband with antifreeze and then trying to kill her daughter and frame her as the murderer.
Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey told Stacey Castor that he had "never seen a parent willing to sacrifice their child to shift the blame away from themselves."
Fahey sentenced Castor, 41, to the maximum of 25 years to life for the murder of David Castor at their Syracuse home in August 2005, and to another 25 years for the attempt to kill daughter Ashley Wallace, then 20, with an overdose of drugs and vodka in September 2007.
The judge also ordered Castor to an additional 1 1/3 to four years in prison for forging her husband's will.
"In my 34 years in the criminal justice system as a lawyer and a judge, I have seen serial killers, contract killers, killers of every variety and stripe," Fahey said. "But, I have to say Mrs. Castor, you are in a class all by yourself."
Wallace told the judge she hated her mother "for ruining so many people's lives."
District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Castor will have to serve at least 51 1/3 years behind bars before she's eligible for parole.
Likely to die in prison
"In light of her age, it is very likely she will die in prison," Fitzpatrick said.
Charles Keller, Castor's lawyer, has said he will appeal her conviction.
David Castor's death at age 48 was initially considered a suicide, but investigators later determined he didn't knowingly drink ethylene glycol, a toxic chemical found in antifreeze.
Stacey Castor was not charged with the killing until September 2007, after investigators in neighboring Cayuga County exhumed the body of her first husband, Michael Wallace. Doctors originally ruled that the 38-year-old Wallace died of a heart attack, but after the exhumation, authorities ruled the death a homicide caused by ingesting ethylene glycol.
Castor has not been charged in Michael Wallace's killing, but Fitzpatrick used evidence about his death to build the case against her. Cayuga County authorities plan to meet with Fitzpatrick to discuss the Wallace case.
Prosecutors said Castor killed her husbands to collect on their life insurance and estates.
Fitzpatrick said Castor tried to kill her daughter and frame her for killing both men when the woman was being investigated for the deaths. Ashley Wallace nearly died from a mix of sleeping pills, vodka and prescription pills, but she recovered from the poisoning.