LI man's life spared in Conn. murder trial

A former Long Island man already serving a life sentence for killing a Glen Head jeweler in 2004 was spared the death penalty Friday when a jury sentenced him to life without parole in the murders of two Connecticut jewelers.

A Superior Court jury in Bridgeport, Conn., said Christopher DiMeo, now 29, should get life in prison for the 2005 killing of jewelers Kim and Tim Donnelly of Fairfield, Conn., The Associated Press reported.

DiMeo, a Glen Head native, was convicted of the Donnelly killings in February.

DiMeo's lawyers said he should not get the death penalty, but prosecutor Joseph Corradino said that Kim Donnelly saw her husband killed in front of her and then felt the terror of her own impending death, wire reports said.

DiMeo is serving a life sentence for killing jewelry store owner Thomas Renison of Glen Head in 2004.

Nicole Pearce, DiMeo's former girlfriend, pleaded guilty to murder in the Donnelly case. Her sentence is pending.

Pearce, who is being treated for cancer and is serving a 20-year sentence for the Renison killing, gave a deposition for the sentencing by videotape.