WEST HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA — A Lancaster County man will spend the rest of his life in prison after prosecutors say a routine argument over who would cook dinner spiraled into a deadly shooting that left his estranged wife and her elderly aunt dead, and his own son seriously wounded.
Santiago Payano-Sanchez, 64, was sentenced Friday to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 20 to 40 years in state prison, following his guilty plea to multiple charges including two counts of criminal homicide, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
A Domestic Argument Turns Deadly
The fatal incident occurred on the night of October 5, 2025, inside the family’s home on Oak Hollow Drive in West Hempfield Township, a small community roughly 90 miles west of Philadelphia.
During the sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Collo described the violence as a “senseless” escalation of a domestic disagreement over who would prepare dinner that evening…