Wilfred Labossiere sentenced to maximum in murder recorded on iPhone

A Far Rockaway auto mechanic was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting another man during a dispute that was recorded on an iPhone.

Judge Philip Grella of Nassau County Court imposed the maximum sentence on Wilfred Labossiere, 33, after hearing an anguished plea from the mother of the dead man, Christopher Mullings, 29, of Roosevelt.

Mullings' mother, Patricia Leach, 49, of Roosevelt, sobbed as she asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence. "He put a bullet in his back . . . He put another bullet in his temple, execution style," Leach said as she gripped the podium.

"His last words to me were: 'I love you mommy,' " Leach said.

Labossiere told the judge he was upset that people thought he was not remorseful. "I'm not saying, 'sorry.' I'm living 'sorry,' " he said.

A jury convicted Labossiere in March on several charges, including second-degree murder, first-degree assault and two counts of weapons possession.

Defense attorney Anthony Grandinetti of Mineola argued the Probation Department's presentencing report unfairly characterized his client as having anger issues and posing a danger if released.

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The judge did not give specific reasons for imposing the maximum term. He said he was relying on what he had heard in court Monday morning, what was in the Probation Department report and what he had heard during the trial and pretrial hearings.

Labossiere shot Mullings on Nov. 26, 2012, after dropping off his son at the Elmont home of the boy's maternal grandmother, Sandra Clarke. He had left the house, but returned after a phone argument about visitation and baby-sitting.

He got into a dispute with Mullings, whose son, Dwight Leach, had been baby-sitting Labossiere's 3-year-old son there. As Mullings and Labossiere argued, Leach hit the video button on his iPhone and recorded the dispute, which spilled out of the house.

The video -- which was rolling when the shooting happened -- was played for jurors in March and appears to show an argument before Labossiere draws a gun outside the home and shoots two people by the front door.

"I said, 'Let me take my phone out and video this,' " Leach testified at the trial.

Outside, Labossiere pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his jacket and fired three times before the gun jammed. Mullings was hit twice, once in the head. The third bullet hit Clarke. Labossiere drove her to the hospital and she survived.

He later surrendered.