Judge sentences Cara Rintala to 12-14 years

NORTHAMPTON – A Hampshire Superior Court Judge today sentenced Cara Rintala to 12-14 years in prison for the 2010 strangulation death of her wife Annamarie Cochrane Rintala, 37, at the couple’s Granby home.
After an emotional, nearly two hour hearing in Hampshire Superior Court Judge Francis Flannery offered brief remarks, calling the killing “especially brutal.” He also observed that many of the letters he read in support of Cara Rintala appear not to accept the guilty verdict delivered by a jury two weeks ago. “I accept the jury verdict in this case,” he said. “I must.”
To the family of Annamarie Rintala he said: “There’s no legal remedy that will make you whole again,” before announcing his sentencing decision.
Rintala will receive credit for the 7.5 years she has already spent incarcerated before trial and after her conviction in 2016 before it was overturned on appeal 5 years later.
Representing the Commonwealth, Northwestern Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl and Northwestern First Assistant Steven E. Gagne asked Flannery to impose a sentence of 15 to 17 years in state prison, noting the violence of the crime and Rintala’s calculated efforts to alter the crime scene in order to mislead investigators.
In its sentencing memo outlining the reasoning behind the recommendation, the Commonwealth argued that: “(T)he defendant manually strangled Annamarie for three to four minutes, gradually causing Annamarie’s death due to lack of oxygen to her brain. Although the jury’s verdict suggests the defendant did so in the heat of passion, this was not an impulsive, split-second action that the defendant was entirely powerless to prevent.”
The memo also reasoned that the coverup actions “reveal a defendant who, once the heat of passion had subsided, immediately shifted into concealment mode, attempting to deflect and avoid blame for her wife’s killing. This provides a window into the defendant’s character, her amenability to rehabilitation (or lack thereof), and the degree to which she prioritized self-preservation over everything—and everyone—else.”

In court, ADA Gagne noted that the killing of Annamarie Cochrane Rintala harmed many people who loved her, especially her daughter, who was 3 years old at the time. “The one person responsible for this harm and trauma is the defendant herself,” said Gagne. The couple’s daughter, he said, “is a victim because the defendant ended her other mother’s life.”
Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan had this to say about the long-running criminal case and today’s sentencing hearing: “The Court’s sentence reflects the gravity of the harm and loss caused by the defendant’s actions on March 29, 2010. Although no sentence will ever fill the permanent void left in Annamarie’s family’s hearts, our hope is that today’s sentence brings them some measure of justice and long-awaited closure.”
Defense attorney Rosemary Scapicchio argued for a sentence of time served, which would be the 7 ½ years she served prior to trial and following her October, 2016, murder conviction before that verdict was overturned by the Supreme Judicial Court in September of 2021.
In arguing for her recommendation, Scapicchio noted her client’s life of public service including her career as an EMT and paramedic, her lack of a prior criminal record, 40 letters of support attesting to her character, and her caretaker role for her daughter.
The trial, which lasted for a month, was the fourth trial for Rintala, with the first two resulting in deadlocked juries. In 2016, a jury returned a verdict of guilty on first degree murder; that verdict was overturned on appeal in 2021.
All four trials were prosecuted by Northwestern Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl and Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne.
In addition to Scapicchio, Rintala was represented in this trial by defense attorneys Chauncey Wood and Melissa Ramos. She had been represented in the other three trials by Northampton defense attorneys David Hoose and Luke Ryan.
In court, ADA Gagne noted that the killing of Annamarie Cochrane Rintala harmed many people who loved her, especially her daughter, who was 3 years old at the time. “The one person responsible for this person responsible for this