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BARRE – A Barre man who strangled his girlfriend while they were camping over the Fourth of July holiday in Middlesex was sentenced Wednesday to serve 17 and a half years behind bars.

But not before 63-year-old Randal Gebo heard testimony from the family of Cindy Cook, whose slain body was found over an embankment of a road in Middlesex with her hands and feet bound with dog leashes nearly two years ago.

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The testimony from Cook’s family included calls for a stiffer sentence as well as an offer of forgiveness.

“Randy, whether you like it or not, I forgive you for killing my mother,” said Matthew Hayes, Cook’s son. “I hope you can find peace on your journey.”

Hope Garcia, one of Cook’s daughters, urged Judge Mary Morrissey to impose a harsher sentence than the one outlined in a plea agreement with her mother’s killer.

“Your honor, he took my rock away,” Garcia said through tears. “My mother deserved more than this. He took the life of a beautiful, loving woman who had so much to give back to society.”

Gebo, wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt, gray sweatpants and white sneakers, stood in shackles at the defense table alongside his attorney in the Washington County Superior criminal court in Barre and briefly addressed those family members.

“There’s really not much I can say. All the sorrys in the world aren’t going to change what happened,” Gebo said. “The events that took place, I’m responsible.”

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He then added, “All of the family can go on knowing that what happened tortures me and I’m truly sorry.”

Gebo pleaded guilty in late May to a charge of second-degree murder and stealing a vehicle, and entered a no contest plea to a count of animal cruelty. Gebo fled to the Midwest before he was arrested.

Gebo, as part of his 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence, will be given credit for time he has already served behind bars since his arrest almost two years ago, meaning he could get out of jail in 15 years. Following his release, Gebo will be on probation for 35 years.

The plea deal and sentencing Wednesday heads off a trial that had been set for later this summer.

Gebo had initially been charged with first-degree murder. At issue in the case was whether the crime was premeditated, as Gebo’s attorney contended that a fight escalated to the point where his client lost control.

Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault, in court Tuesday and in a filing in support of the sentence, said that proving premeditation for first-degree murder would be difficult.

To do so, according to Thibault, the prosecution would have to rely on circumstantial evidence and opinions of experts.

He added that the “state acknowledged the risk that jury would have multiple opportunities to find reasonable doubt for a first-degree murder charge, or be able to reach a unanimous verdict.”

However, according to Thibault, the evidence tying Gebo to Cook’s slaying was “overwhelming.”

The prosecutor also said that the plea deal would ensure that Gebo will remain behind bars until he is nearly 78 years old, and after that will be on probation for what would likely be the rest of his life.

Police found Cook’s body over an embankment off Brook Road in Middlesex on July 12, 2017.

Authorities believe that she had been dead several days before her remains were located, with police saying they believed she was killed late July 4 or the following day.

An autopsy revealed bruising on Cook’s neck and evidence of blunt force to her head, neck and torso.

Gebo had lived with Cook, 59, for a little more than a year at her apartment in Barre. According to a police affidavit, Cook’s twin sister told police that her sister told her that Gebo was sometimes verbally abusive.

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Gebo was arrested about a week after Cook’s remains were discovered. He was taken into custody in Downers Grove, Illinois, driving Cook’s missing Mini Cooper following a nationwide manhunt. He pleaded not guilty and has been held without bail since.

Police said Cook’s dog, a dachshund named Honey Bee, was seen in the area of the slaying around July 5. The dog has not been found.

Judge Morrissey accepted the plea agreement Friday, calling it a compromise.

“I hope that the proceedings coming to an end today will bring some small measure of peace and allow the family and Ms. Cook’s friends to heal,” the judge said.

Morrissey added that the plea agreement closes out further possible appeals in the case and provides the certainty of a “lengthy” prison sentence on the murder conviction.

In court Wedneday, Cook was described as a beloved mother, sister, aunt and a person, who despite troubles in her life, according to one of her daughters, “still had a soul that shined like the sun coming through the clouds.”

Christina Searles told the judge that the slaying and loss of her mother has weighed heavy on her. “This raw numb feeling has been plaguing my soul for nearly two years now,” Searles said.

Searles added that she couldn’t imagine what the last few moments of her mother’s life must have been like.

“I will do my best to keep her memory alive for my children,” Searles said.

“If there’s one thing mom would want you all to know it would be to enjoy the simple things in life,” Searles added. “Stop and smell those roses, take the trips, because we never know what tomorrow brings.”

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