Sharpsburg veteran who shot aunt's boyfriend sentenced to life in prison

John “Jack” Parkes, Jr. treated Michael Lapaglia like his own family, but Lapaglia shot, killed and robbed him over jewelry the young man was later caught selling at a Downtown jewelry store.

“Many times Jack and Michael sat at the card table together, playing cards. They always had a close relationship. When I came home from work that day and found Jack, I never dreamed in a million years it would be my nephew Michael who took his life,” said Carol Lapaglia, Michael's aunt and Parkes' fiancee. She found Parkes dead in their Kennedy home in July 2014.

“Michael, we loved you. How could you do this to us?” she asked her nephew in court Wednesday morning.

Common Pleas Judge David Cashman sentenced Michael Lapaglia, 24, of Sharpsburg to life in prison without parole.

A jury found Lapaglia guilty of murder in June.

Lapaglia, who wore glasses and a red jail jumpsuit in court, “maintains his innocence,” said his attorney, Lisa Brunner, who asked that the judge leave open the possibility of parole. In a brief statement, Lapaglia asked Cashman to consider that the mandatory life sentence meant he'd never get a family of his own.

“This was a senseless, mean-spirited and stupid killing,” Cashman said before handing down the sentence, which included 10 to 20 years for robbery.

Lapaglia, a military veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2010, was kicked out of the military for having synthetic marijuana. Although he claimed there was a struggle before he shot Parkes, an autopsy found no marks on Parkes' hands indicating a fight. Lapaglia claimed he has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Police arrested Lapaglia when they learned he attempted to sell the jewelry he took from his aunt's home to a pawn shop in Sharpsburg, but the owner refused to buy it. He later sold damaged jewelry to a Downtown jewelry store.

Matthew Santoni is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412 391 0927 or msantoni@tribweb.com.