Paul Apodaca was sentenced in the killings of Stella Gonzales, left inset, Kaitlyn Arquette, second from left inset, and Althea Oakeley, right inset. (Victim photos from Albuquerque Police Department; virtual courtroom screenshot of the defendant from Albuquerque, New Mexico, CBS and FOX affiliate KRQE)
The serial killer in New Mexico responsible for the killings of two teens and a young woman in the late 1980s has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Paul Apodaca, 55, learned his fate in the killings of 13-year-old Stella Gonzales, 18-year-old Kaitlyn Arquette, and 21-year-old Althea Oakeley, police said in a news release .
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In a virtual court hearing on Thursday, Stella’s mother lashed out at the killer, local affiliate KRQE reported.
“You have no idea what you took from me,” she said. “Since the day you killed her, there’s an emptiness in my heart that can never be filled. May God forgive me, but I hope you go to hell.”
Apodaca, who said he lost his father to gun violence, cried.