Relatives squabble at manslaughter sentencing

A family feud erupted Wednesday in Suffolk County Court at the sentencing of a Huntington Station man for strangling and killing his mother-in-law.

Brandon Palladino, 24, who pleaded guilty last year to first-degree manslaughter, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the December 2008 death of Dianne Edwards, 59, of Melville. Prosecutors have said Palladino killed Edwards when she caught him stealing her jewelry from her home.

The courtroom squabble included barbs between Edwards' sister, Donna Larsen of Ronkonkoma, and Edwards' cousin, Gail O'Connell, as well as an allegation by prosecutors that Larsen had asked the district attorney's office to reduce Palladino's sentence to resolve a dispute over Edwards' estate.

Before State Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle pronounced sentence, Larsen said Palladino stands to inherit $241,000 from the sale last year of Edwards' former home on West Hills Road. Palladino inherited the rights to the house when his wife, Deanna, who was Edwards' only child, died last year of a drug overdose.

Palladino has "hundreds of thousands of dollars waiting for him" when he gets out of prison, Larsen said in court. "My sister fought this man for her life and lost, and now I'm fighting this man for my sister."

O'Connell also spoke in court, accusing Larsen and her husband of spreading "misinformation" about Edwards and Deanna Palladino and saying Larsen had been estranged from the two.

Larsen, in her statement in court, said Deanna Palladino committed suicide last year. Prosecutors said she died from an accidental drug overdose.

Brandon Palladino, who spoke before his sentencing, said his mother-in-law and Donna Larsen had not spoken for years before Edwards' death.

"I can't believe you are here in support of the deceased," he said to Larsen.

As tension mounted between Larsen's and O'Connell's families, more court officers entered the courtroom to keep order. The families were escorted out separately after the sentencing.

In interviews with Newsday, Donna and Andrew Larsen have said they are seeking to get control of Edwards' former house from Brandon Palladino and his mother, Donna Di Russo of Huntington Station.

Reached by telephone after the sentencing, Di Russo said she could not comment because of ongoing litigation, which she declined to specify.

Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford said in court that Donna Larsen called her in December and sought to have Palladino's prison sentence reduced to 10 years in exchange for Palladino releasing his claim to Edwards' house.

"Did not," Donna Larsen said from her seat in court after Clifford made the claim.

Later, outside court, the Larsens said they discussed Palladino's plea bargain with Clifford, but they denied asking her to reduce his sentence so they could obtain the rights to the house.

District Attorney Thomas Spota told reporters outside court that prosecutors would not reduce Palladino's prison sentence to assist the Larsens in the estate dispute. "We are never going to let anyone buy their way out of jail," Spota said.

Doyle said in court the fight over Edwards' former estate was not related to the criminal charges against Palladino and the inheritance issue "plays no part in the criminal proceedings" or in Palladino's sentence.