It took more than eight years, but the fiend who strangled a 16-year-old Long Island cheerleader on a Mother’s Day is finally serving time for the crime.
Stephen Manolis, 44, was hit yesterday with the maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the savage 1996 killing of next-door neighbor Kristin Scarabelli.
Manolis, a diagnosed schizophrenic whose bizarre behavior is well known to neighbors on Cedar Road in East Northport, was handcuffed and shackled during the hourlong sentencing hearing in a packed Suffolk courtroom.
At least three jurors – including one from an earlier mistrial – were on hand to see the conclusion of a case that stunned the quiet, wealthy community.
Judge Michael Mullen offered Kristin’s mother, Charlayne, a chance to speak, but she was so overcome with grief that prosecutor John Collins read her statement.
“To know Kristin is to love her,” the statement said. “Mother’s Day will always be the hardest and worst day every year for the rest of my life. I live every day with guilt for failing Kristin. Our family was destroyed, our emotions shattered.”
Kristin, the youngest of four kids, was strangled by Manolis on her front lawn around midnight. He then dragged her body through back yards in the neighborhood and hid it in shrubbery.
Manolis – a peeping Tom who had terrified Kristin for years – was an early suspect, but was not arrested until five years later when DNA evidence linked him to the crime.
Mullen received a 10-page plea for mercy from the murderer’s older brother, John.
But turning to Manolis’ lawyer, the judge said, “I am convinced that despite your client’s protests, he was guilty.”
When Mullen asked Manolis if he had any final words before sentencing, he said only, “I’m innocent. We already expressed our sympathies eight years ago.”
Outside court, the Scarabellis – who still live next door to the Manolises – said they were pleased with the outcome.
“Maybe now I can sleep for more than two hours a night,” dad Victor Scarabelli said.