Oscar Reyes Babauta will spend 27 years in jail for shooting his first cousin in As Matuis five years ago.
Associate Judge Juan T. Lizama sentenced Oscar Babauta to 35 years, eight years suspended.
Lizama also ordered Oscar Babauta to pay restitution to the victim’s family.
The judge said it was the toughest sentencing he ever made considering the nature and seriousness of the case.
Lizama came up with a sentence late in the afternoon after an emotional hearing.
Among those who testified were Grace Babauta, wife of the victim, Jose Boki Babauta, their sons Darryl and Ian Babauta, his sister Elena B. Hofschneider and three friends.
Grace Babauta said they were on their way to Kristo Rai Church when Oscar Babauta shot her husband on Feb. 1, 1997.
She described how her husband’s death affected her life. She said she even built a seven-foot wall so she would not see the road.
She also prepared a 24-minute video of her life with Jose Babauta. The video concluded with the members of Marianas High School’s Class of 1972 singing “Sounds of Silence” during the funeral.
Ian Babauta spoke about growing up without a father and what it felt like to look around and see that “everybody else had a dad.”
Ian Babauta expressed fear for his safety and how the man who had shot his father was able to freely walk around for five years.
Daryl Babauta said after his father’s death, his mother told him he had to assume the role of his father.
Daryl Babauta said his father never taught him hatred, but he learned it after his father’s death.
“Thanks to Oscar, I know what hatred is, and hate hurts. Hate doesn’t allow you to do what you want to do, it only allows you to do what you can do. We didn’t live, we just survived,” he said.
In 2000, the Attorney General’s Office filed a 3rd amended information charging Oscar Babauta with first degree murder, lesser included offense of second degree murder, illegal carrying of a firearm, and use of a firearm in commission of a crime.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
Last February, Oscar Babauta and court-appointed counsel Steve Nutting entered a plea agreement with the government represented by Assistant Attorney General Kevin Lynch.
Oscar Babauta pleaded guilty to second degree murder, which is a lesser included offense of first degree murder.
The plea agreement stated that on Feb. 1, 1997, the defendant killed Jose Boki Babauta “with malice aforethought, and by means of a firearm under circumstances not amounting to first degree murder.”
Court records showed that Oscar Babauta drove up next to a van driven by Jose Babauta, shouted obscenities, then shot the victim in the head with a rifle.
Oscar Babauta was arrested but posted bail.
