BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

CANTON -- Christopher Hebert maintained his innocence as he was sentenced to 25 years up to the rest of his life in state prison for murdering Lacey Yekel in 2014.

Judge Jerome Richards handed down the sentence in St. Lawrence County Court this morning.

A jury found Hebert guilty of murder on Thursday, March 21 after a weeklong trial and just under seven hours of deliberations.

Hebert killed Yekel on or around June 7, 2014 in Massena. Her skeletal remains were recovered from a wooded area near the Massena Industrial Park on Aug. 29, 2014.

"I'm just glad we got him. I want to thank the detectives and the judge and the DA for getting justice for Lacey," Yekel's mother, Bonnie Lamay, told reporters following the sentencing.

Defendant Maintains Innocence, Lambasts Police and Prosecutors

Hebert stuck with the story he told on the witness stand -- that Lacey Yekel died from a cocaine overdose.

"I would like to apologize to Bonnie. I am truly sorry Lacey overdosed," Hebert said. "The three people who came forward telling their different versions ... never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be arrested and convicted of a murder that never happened."

He went on to level a broadside at the district attorney and investigators.

"This is not about the truth ... it's about justifying job titles, re-elections, and politics," the defendant said. "It's never about the truth, from the detectives who want and needed this to be a homicide to justify all the wasted man hours and their job titles."

He said District Attorney Gary Pasqua is unqualified for his job and "will say anything to look good in the eyes of potential voters."

He also tore into Judge Richards, who is about to retire from the bench.

"Let this be your legacy. Today you're sending a man to prison for life for a crime he didn't commit," Hebert said. "You, Jerome Richards, are no better than me."

Parents Ask for No Mercy

Bonnie Lamay and Yekel's father, Robert Yekel, gave victim impact statements prior to the sentence.

Yekel, who is a state prison inmate, gave his statement in shackles and dressed in a tan jacket and tan pants.

"I want to thank the district attorney and state police Major Crimes Unit for all their hard work in this case," he said, adding that he is glad to see justice and closure. "He took my precious beautiful baby girl away from me, for what, a couple hundred dollars?"

"This man is unpredictable and a very serious threat to society. He has no remorse," Yekel said. "My daughter did not deserve what he did to her. She was a bright, beautiful young lady with a wonderful sense of humor and awesome personality."

"As long as I am alive I will be at every parole board hearing he has, protesting his release," he said. "I respectfully ask the court to show no mercy."

Throughout the remainder of the proceedings, Yekel stared across the room at Hebert with unblinking, stone-faced anger.

Lamay had similar words in her victim impact statement.

"Lacey was a beautiful young lady just becoming a woman. She had so much left to do. She had plans. She was going to be someone's wife, someone's mom ... now that can never be because Christopher Hebert took all that from us," she said. "She did not deserve to be killed in such a horrific way and then left in those woods like a piece of garbage."

"My heart, my life, my world will never be the same again. Not once during this entire trial did I see Christopher Hebert utter an ounce of remorse," Lamay said. "He is heartless, spineless, a cold-hearted brutal killer ... I am begging you to please be merciless today."

Trial Recap

At the trial, five witnesses testified that Hebert told them he murdered the 24-year-old. One of his confessions was captured in a 2017 jailhouse recording and played in the courtroom. He can be heard saying he was “consciously aware” of what he was doing and says he killed the woman because he had beat her so severely that he would have gone to prison even if she hadn’t died.

Testimony at trial revealed the killer and victim had been using cocaine together the day of the murder, injecting it with needles. Hebert had agreed to accept guns from Yekel to pay for the cocaine she was getting from him.

They went to the Industrial Park on the night of June 7, but there were no guns there, and that’s when Hebert killed her, according to the evidence presented at trial.

Hebert took the stand in his own defense. He claimed Yekel died of an overdose after injecting a large dose of cocaine. He also claimed to have lied to people about murdering Yekel in order to look tough and gain clout among his criminal associates.

But the jury didn’t buy it. A juror after the conclusion of the trial said they felt Hebert’s overdose story was made up, and hearing him admit to the murder on tape was a big part of what pushed them to vote for a guilty verdict.