Man Pleads No Contest to Murder in 2007 Dismemberment Case

Will be sentenced to 30 years in prison

A New York man charged with 2nd-degree murder of a woman whose head was found floating in an Alligator Alley canal in 2007 pled no contest Wednesday morning in a Broward courtroom and is facing a 30-year prison sentence.

Paul Truccio, 38, entered the plea before opening statements were to be heard in the case of the murder and dismemberment of Lorraine Hatzakorzian.

Truccio and Robert Mackey were accused of killing Hatzakorzian, who was 41 at the time, in April 2007. Police say they then dismembered her and dumped her head in a canal near mile marker 31 on I-75.

Truccio’s plea cuts short a criminal trial that started with fireworks yesterday as the defendant repeatedly clashed with the judge. The defendant made jokes and blurted out that he was in South Carolina during the murder on Tuesday.

Eventually, the judge had him removed from the court.

After his plea on Wednesday, Truccio continued to claim innocence, saying he entered the plea just to get the whole case over with.

Mackey’s trial is expected to begin later this year.
 

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