Hamilton: Man gets 20 years in strangulation case

By Julie Manganis
Staff writer

Tue, May 13 2008

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HAMILTON — A South Shore man was sentenced to 20 years in state prison Thursday morning for the attempted strangulation murder of a Hamilton woman in her home last year.

John Carey, 48, of Braintree was found guilty Wednesday of attempted murder and home invasion in the June 6 incident inside the home of Rosemary Diskin and her young son.

Newburyport Superior Court Judge Richard Welch called the incident "truly a terrible series of crimes" on the night of June 6, when Carey showed up at Diskin's home, convinced her to let him in with a phony story about meeting her husband for drinks, and then put a necktie around her neck and began strangling her.

The attack was interrupted when Diskin's then 12-year-old son came downstairs and tried to stab Carey, then punched at him until he let go of Diskin and fled.

Outside, he dropped part of the tie, which had both his and Diskin's DNA on it. That became a crucial piece of evidence against him.

Prosecutor Kim Faitella argued to jurors that Carey was attempting to act out his ultimate sexual fantasy of strangling a woman to death — a scenario depicted in hundreds of images found on his computer after his arrest.

Carey claimed for months that the act was consensual, and that the two had been having an affair. But on Thursday, he tearfully apologized to Diskin, her husband and their son, admitting that he had violated the trust of his former neighbors.

"I did wrong," Carey told the Diskins.

Rosemary Diskin, in a victim-impact statement, blasted Carey as "an evil, horrible, dangerous, twisted man," who had robbed her entire family of their sense of security.

"John Carey has shown no remorse at all and his fabricated stories are disgusting and sick," said Diskin.

She said her son is still terrified of being alone in the house.

"You've done an unbelievable number on my son," Diskin said to Carey.

Faitella had asked for a slightly longer term of 20 to 25 years in prison, while Carey's lawyer, Kirk Bransfield, sought a term of eight to 10 years.

Welch's sentence of 20 years for the home invasion, and a concurrent 18-20 years for attempted murder, will be followed by five years of probation on the assault and battery counts. He was also ordered to take part in sex offender treatment (although none of the charges he was convicted of will require him to register as a sex offender), and substance abuse treatment.

For more on the sentencing, please see Friday's edition of The Salem News.

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