2 Sentenced In Wallkill Murder For Hire Case

ORANGE COUNTY, NY — The killer and the client who hired him to murder a hated neighbor have been sentenced in Orange County Court.

Enoch Lowe, 25, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole following his conviction after a jury trial in the Orange County Court of all charges against him.

Damante Stansberry, 24, was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison after previously pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Prosecutors said Lowe hired Stansberry to kill Lowe’s neighbor, with whom Lowe had long-standing animosity. Lowe promised Stansberry $15,000 to commit the murder and acted as a lookout, informing Stansberry as to when the victim was alone, outside, and vulnerable to being attacked. At 5 p.m. Oct. 30, 2022, Stansberry arrived at the residence of his 53-year-old victim and repeatedly stabbed the man, who was repairing a fence in the back yard. Lowe sent text messages to Stansberry immediately before Stansberry left to commit the murder and spoke to Stansberry using a cellphone as soon as he finished.

On March 30, 2023, Stansberry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Lowe was arrested Oct. 10, 2023 after an investigation conducted by the Town of Wallkill Police Department, assisted by the New York State Police, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center, the United States Secret Service and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Lowe was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and second-degree conspiracy. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Additionally, the judge imposed a sentence of 1-4 years in prison on the evidence tampering charge and ordered that sentence to run consecutive to the sentence imposed on the murder charge, thus constituting the maximum sentence permitted by law.

“By the significant sentence imposed today, both individuals involved in the senseless killing of a member of our community have now been held responsible,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “I commend the hard work of the Town of Wallkill Police Department, all the agencies that aided them, as well as the skilled prosecutors who handled the case. My Office remains committed to the relentless pursuit of violent criminals and we will hold them to account for their actions.”

Hoovler commended Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher Borek and Assistant District Attorney Bryan Conway who prosecuted the case. He thanked the Town of Wallkill Police Department, and all the law enforcement agencies involved in the arrest and investigation of Lowe and Stansberry.