Massachusetts man pleads guilty to killing an NYC Google employee

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts man accused of murdering Google employee Vanessa Marcotte in New York City in 2016 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Angelo Colon-Ortiz, who is 36 years old, admitted in a plea deal that he strangled Marcotte as she ran near her mother’s home in Massachusetts.

Before his 2017 arrest, Colon-Ortiz worked as a delivery driver. He was sentenced to 45 years to life in jail.

Marcotte’s family said they agreed to the deal so they wouldn’t have to go through the pain of her death all over again during the trial.

“We are thankful and gratified the legal process has accomplished what we always wished for, that this man will now be in a place where he can’t hurt anyone else like the way he hurt Vanessa,” the family said in a statement.

On August 7, 2016, 27-year-old Marcotte was jogging near her mother’s house in Princeton, Massachusetts. She intended to return to New York later that day.

However, Marcotte never returned home. The next day, her body was found in a wooded area about 40 miles west of Boston, in a small village.

In April 2017, after an extensive investigation, Colon-Ortiz was detained. When Colon-Ortiz attacked Marcotte, she fought back. His DNA was found under her fingernails, so the police think he was the one who attacked her.

In July 2017, Colon-Ortiz originally pled not guilty. On Wednesday, he altered his plea and admitted guilt to the charges of second-degree murder and unarmed robbery. When Marcotte’s corpse was discovered, her smartphone and numerous articles of clothing were gone.

John Marcotte, the father of the victim, passed away ten days ago. Her uncle, Steve Therrien, represented her father during victim impact statements.

John Marcotte was cited by Therrien as stating, “Let’s keep this monster off the streets… “I’ll be dead before he has a parole hearing.”