Judge praises victim for courage, presence of mind in fending off attacker
GREENFIELD – Saying he’d been tempted to exceed the prosecution’s recommended sentence for former Mount Holyoke College Professor Rie Hachiyanagi in connection with the December 2019 attack that left a colleague with permanent injuries, Judge Francis Flannery instead adopted a 10-12 year prison sentence recommended by Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Matthew Thomas.
In a change of plea hearing Friday, Hachiyanagi pleaded guilty to nine charges stemming from her four-hour late-night attack on Lauret Savoy. At that hearing, Judge Flannery said he needed time to ponder the differing recommendations from the prosecution and defense attorneys.
In court today, Judge Flannery explained why he needed that time. He said he found the case troubling because the defense presented evidence that Hachiyanagi, 50, was a respected peer, talented artist, good friend and kind person with no criminal record.
“But on the other hand, I have this defendant who tried to torture to death over four hours someone who wasn’t an enemy, but was a friend,” he said. He said he needed to hear an explanation that would help him understand the problem that caused such behavior in order to know how it could be fixed.
“But I still don’t understand. I still don’t see an adequate explanation for what happened,” said Judge Flannery. “This is one of the most horrific set of facts I’ve heard and I’m a superior court judge.”
He said when attorneys come to a plea hearing with two different sentencing recommendations, he usually tries to hand down a sentence somewhere in the middle of the two, but in this case, he said he was considering exceeding the prosecution’s recommendation of of 10-12 years in state prison on the armed assault and mayhem charges, and concurrent 7-9 years in state prison on the assault and battery charges, followed by three years on probation with an order to stay away from the victim and wear an ankle monitoring device for the first year as well as mental health evaluation and counseling.
Defense Attorney Thomas Kokonowski had recommended a sentence of 5-7 years in state prison followed by probation, citing the defendant’s lack of prior record, that she struggles with anger issues that she has been working on and noting that she has been a model prisoner during her incarceration.
Judge Flannery called the commonwealth’s recommended sentence “restrained,” before imposing it on Hachiyanagi. He then made some comments about Lauret Savoy, who was in court for the sentencing, praising her for her courage in fighting back against someone trying to kill her.
“Professor Savoy is certainly a victim of a horrific crime, but that’s not what I’m going to remember,” he said. “I’m going to remember that she had the presence of mind and the courage to convince her attacker not to kill her. As her body was failing her, she used her mind to save herself. That’s remarkable.”
At the plea hearing, Thomas had explained that Hachiyanagi knocked on the door of the Lauret Savoy’s home claiming to need of emotional support over a breakup. When allowed in, Hachiyanagi attacked her, bludgeoning her with a rock, a fire poker and pruning shears, all the while taunting her in a four-hour torture session until Lauret Savoy managed to convince Hachiyanagi to summon help. But she was left with long-lasting emotional trauma and severe physical trauma, some of which is permanent.
In Friday’s hearing, Hachiyanagi pleaded guilty to: three counts of armed assault with intent to murder a person over 60; three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60; and one count each of home invasion, mayhem and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony.
Criminal charges are based on probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.