went undiscovered for more than a year.
Yesterday, the former patrolman sat motionless as members of the Palumbo family asked the court to reject the plea bargain that would free Woodrow before his 57th birthday.
"Maybe in 30 years, if Officer Woodrow is set free, he will marry someone you love," Carole Palumbo Hanna, a niece and cousin to the victims, told Smith. "Two helpless women died by his hand."
Hanna and her sister, Linda Palumbo, told the court they thought Woodrow was receiving preferential treatment because he was a law enforcement officer.
"Is the community to believe that police officers are above the law?" Linda Palumbo asked.
As the Palumbo sisters read from lengthy statements, Woodrow, dressed in a gray suit and tie and appearing pale and drawn, rarely lifted his eyes, which were fixed on his courtroom table. Earlier in the proceedings, he told Smith he regretted killing the women.
"I know that what I did was completely godless. I know how inadequate it sounds, but I am truly sorry for what I have done," Woodrow said.
Under the plea bargain, Woodrow agreed to plead guilty in exchange for two 30-year sentences that would run concurrently. Under state law, he could have been sentenced to serve at least 60 years in jail - 30 years consecutively for each murder.
Smith accepted the plea agreement, saying that the mitigating and aggravating facts were balanced. In sentencing Woodrow, Smith said the murders were "heinous and depraved," then pointed out that Woodrow had no previous record.
In addition to the 30-year sentence, Woodrow was sentenced to four years for cashing 13 of Yolanda Palumbo's Social Security checks after her death. The four years will be served concurrently with the murder sentences. Woodrow will be credited with the time he has spent in jail since his arrest in September 1990.
After the sentencing, First Assistant Prosecutor Lawrence Magid, who negotiated the plea agreement, said he thought the sentence was fair. The Palumbos said they were disappointed the agreement had been accepted.
