Ghana man's sentence for slaying upsets family

Twenty to 40 years in prison isn't enough time behind bars for her mother's killer, Heather Lorigan said in court Tuesday.

"He deserved life," said Lorigan, 23, whose mother, Brenda Agbley, was strangled by her husband, Jude Agbley, in their Forest Hills home.

A jury in November convicted Agbley, 35, of third-degree murder for killing Brenda Agbley, 40, on Jan. 23, 2009. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kathleen Durkin imposed the maximum sentence, calling his actions "pretty chilling."

For Lorigan and her family, her mother's death was the second tragedy to strike. Eight months earlier in May 2008, two people attacked Heather and her father, Thomas Lorigan, in Greenville in Mercer County. Thomas Lorigan died in the attack and Heather, who was stabbed in the head, now uses a wheelchair.

"We had just gone through all of that eight months earlier and Jude knew that," said Brenda Agbley's mother, Marilyn Allen, 61, of Greenville.

Brenda Agbley's death left Heather and her sister Rachel Lorigan, 20, without parents, and her half-brother Corey Gibson, 8, without a mother. Corey and Heather now live with Allen.

Agbley apologized to his wife's family and wiped tears from his eyes.

"I deeply regret this unfortunate incident," he said. "I pray for Brenda every day and I hope that she can find peace and comfort."

Agbley testified in his defense at trial, saying he and his wife fought over e-mails between her and another man. He said she grabbed scissors and he grabbed her neck.

In a written statement to the judge, Corey wrote about his stepdad.

"I miss my mom so much. Keep my dad, Jude, in jail for life," he wrote. "I miss my mother. I wish my dad hadn't done that to my mother."

Police found Brenda Agbley dead on the couch after she didn't pick up Corey from school. Jude Agbley was arrested days later at a Greyhound bus station in Detroit.

Corey testified at the preliminary hearing that his mother would not wake up when he tried to say goodbye to her before he left for school that day.

"He leaves the body on the couch and doesn't call police. He leaves an 8-year-old boy alone," Assistant District Attorney Mike Sullivan said. "The remorse Mr. Agbley is attempting to express is nothing more than a ruse."

Sullivan said federal authorities issued a deportation order for Jude Agbley, a Ghana national, in 2004.

"He can't bring her back," Allen said. "I don't believe that he's sorry."