Claudia Hoerig receives appropriate prison term

“SHE IS EVIL”

Those three words that headlined the front-page story Feb. 9 on the sentencing of Trumbull County killer Claudia

Hoerig are in quotes because they came from members of the victim’s family.

But ask any resident of the Mahoning Valley about the cold-blooded slaying of U.S. Air Force Reserve Maj. Karl Hoerig of Newton Falls and you’ll hear similar sentiments expressed about the murderess.

It’s not just the nature of the crime committed March 12, 2007, that shocked the region. It was the fact that Claudia lived a full life for nine years in her

native Brazil until her luck ran out.

That’s why Karl’s brother, Steve, and his wife, Kim, had the following letter read prior to the convicted killer’s sentencing by Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court:

“Claudia thinks she is the smartest person in the room. Not this room. No one believes her lies. Claudia is a manipulator and vindictive liar. She has no remorse, no shame, no morals. She is evil. Her testimony was meant to deliberately hurt each member of our family.

“She lied about each and every one of us and especially Karl, one of the kindest, gentlest, forgiving people we have known.”

Their daughter, Roxy Vaughn, read the letter, which echoed the sentiments of others who spoke on behalf of the victim, including his daughter, Eva Snowden. His parents, Ed and Fran Hoerig, issued a statement that was read by their granddaughter, Megan Murphy.

‘Loving person’

“Karl was a brilliant, amazing, kind, loving person who focused on the best qualities in everyone and overlooked the flaws,” they wrote.

Judge Logan sentenced Claudia

Hoerig to 28 years to life and gave her credit for three years she served in Brazil and Ohio.

Therefore, she will spend at least 25 years in state prison before being eligible for parole.

The sentence is in keeping with the promise Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins made to U.S. and Brazilian officials in order to secure the extradition of the accused.

Although the sentence ranges from 28 years to life, Watkins said the maximum time behind bars would be 30 years. That’s because Brazil, which does not have the death penalty, imposes a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

The veteran county prosecutor, who dedicated the last decade or so of his life to bringing Maj. Hoerig’s killer to justice, told The Vindicator he will write to the Ohio Parole Board to ensure that Claudia does not serve more than 30 years behind bars.

Watkins, who has been prosecutor for 35 years and will seek another four-year term next year, has earned the appreciation and respect of the people of the Valley for his unwavering commitment to the pursuit of justice.

As we said in an editorial shortly after the jury in Claudia’s eight-day trial returned a verdict of guilty, it was a bitter-sweet moment for this region. Bitter because it took so long for the killer to be brought to justice. Sweet because the highly decorated Air Force Reserve pilot is finally at rest.

While there have been many people who kept up the pressure on the U.S. and Brazilian governments to ensure that justice would prevail, Watkins, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, former Congressman John Boccieri and other state and federal lawmakers made sure that Washington did not forget Maj. Hoerig.

After years of political maneuvering, the Brazilian Supreme Court finally approved Claudia’s extradition after revoking her Brazilian citizenship. She was a U.S. citizen at the time of the murder.

She had fled the Mahoning Valley

after she had shot her husband in their Newton Falls home.

Indictment

After a jury indicted her on a charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification, Watkins sought her return to Trumbull County from Brazil.

The Feb. 8 sentencing of Claudia

Hoerig brought to a close a dark chapter in the history of the Mahoning Valley.

But it also provided closure for the family of a man who was beloved,

respected and a patriot.

The words of his daughter, Eva, are a fitting epitaph for an individual who did not deserve to die:

“My dad was the greatest, most wonderful, best ever, should-have-won-a-trophy dad. I never told him that. Maybe I didn’t know it yet, or maybe I was too young to understand, but I never told him. And it’s completely and totally unfair that he isn’t in my or my family’s life anymore.”

Amen.