ROCKVILLE, MD — The next-door neighbor who slaughtered a Rockville couple on Mother's Day 2015 will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance at parole, a judge ruled Tuesday. Scott Michael Tomaszewski, 33, served as caretaker at times for the property of Richard and Julianne Vilardo, and confessed to their murders when he was apprehended on a cruise ship in Alaska.

Tomaszewski was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after Montgomery County Police arrested him with blood-tainted cash police believe was that of the victims, and other items that tied him to a recent burglary and the murders. He pleaded guilty Sept. 20, 2016, to the slayings of the Vilardoes, who were found at their home on the morning of May 10, 2015. Prosecutors said Richard Vilardo had been stabbed 47 times. His body was found near the home. Julianne Vilardo was found inside the home. She had been stabbed eight times.

Prosecutors said Tomaszewski had conducted Google searches for "how to break into a home." On the night of the murders he cut and removed a screen from a first floor window at the Vilardo house, climbed inside, then attacked the couple in their bedroom. Police say Tomaszewski posted a Facebook message about his victims' deaths the night he killed them. "My deepest sympathies go out to our neighbors who were found deceased today. I pray that their children are somehow able to make it through this horrible tragedy. They were such nice people. I can't imagine who would do this. Scary to hear about this having possibly happened as we were leaving for our trip," he posted, according to WJLA.

Life in prison with no chance of parole is the maximum sentence allowed by Maryland law. Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy had asked the court, in a written memo filed ahead of the hearing, that Tomaszewski receive the maximum punishment. "No mercy was shown to Richard and Julianne," McCarthy wrote, says WTOP. "Maryland has already shown the defendant mercy by deciding he will not suffer the same fate as his victims. The defendant has already received more mercy than his actions suggest he deserves."

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Dick Vilardo fought with Tomaszewski before he collapsed from his wounds. "The last act on Earth Mr. Richard Viladro was engaged in, I firmly believe, was his last effort to try to save his wife," McCarthy said.

After the bloody attacks, Tomaszewski, grabbed a ginger ale from the couple's refrigerator and then returned home.

