Man Gets 20 Years for Grisly Milford Killing

Authorities say Luis A. Rodriguez went to a Milford apartment in 2001 with the intention of collecting a debt.

But the debtor wasn’t home. The only one home was his wife, Kelsey Monahon, who was nearly one month pregnant at the time.

Matthew Monahon returned to the Shorefront Street apartment to find his 28-year-old wife hog-tied, unconscious and clinging to life, police said.

She died three days later. The cause of death was determined to be death by strangulation, police said.

Ten years would pass before police brought charges against Rodriguez, who, in 2011, was serving time in Oklahoma on an unrelated federal conviction.

The inmate was extradited in June 2013 and originally faced murder and felony murder charges, which could have, if convicted, put Rodriguez behind bars for life without parole, the Connecticut Post reported.

But Rodriguez, 53, pleaded not guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter and this week was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Associated Press reports.

"Authorities said Rodriguez went to the couple's apartment to collect a debt for a friend who was owed money by Monahon's husband, who wasn't home at the time," reads the AP report. "Police said Rodriguez beat and strangled Monahon and stole at least $700 from a safe.

"Rodriguez later bought vodka and cigarettes at a local store with a $100 bill stolen from the Monahons' safe, officials said. The next day, he told his sister he hoped Monahon survived and then drove to Missouri, where he told another person he didn't intend for Monahon to die."

Milford police said they conducted more than 100 interviews before charging Rodriguez with the grisly killing.