GOSHEN – Orange County Court Judge Craig Brown recently struck down a bid by convicted murderer Jennifer Molyneaux to have her sentenced reduced under the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA).
Molyneaux was convicted of second-degree murder in May of 2017 in the killing of 81-year-old Helen Mills in her Village of Goshen home and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. Molyneaux’s boyfriend, Devin Giordano, was also sentenced in connection with the murder.
The DVSJA allows the sentencing court to resentence a domestic violence survivor who suffered sexual, psychological or physical abuse that contributed to his or her conviction if certain, specific criteria are met. Molyneaux’s counsel sought to reduce her sentence to five to 15 years, based on alleged abuse she suffered while in a relationship with Giordano.
Now 27 years old, Molyneaux is serving time at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County. According to the New York Department of Corrections and Supervision website, Molyneaux is not eligible for parole until 2033.
Judge Brown found that: “Defendant’s statements in interviews with police, family and evaluators over time changed and the differences in her statements appeared to start aligning with her new and improved narrative: first towards the mitigation report submitted by her at the initial sentencing, then more specifically tailored to her application under the DVSJA. Defendant’s “proof” lacked independent, objective evidence corroborating defendant’s allegations of abuse.”
Brown added that Molyneaux’s “statements in interviews and the differences in those newly tailored statements appeared to align more and more consistently with her new and improved narrative in support of her applications.”
