A judge ordered a Pennsylvania man to serve two life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife and her elderly aunt after a domestic dispute over cooking turned fatal.
Last October, Santiago Payano-Sanchez and his wife, Ana Gutierrez-Cedano, got into a “senseless” verbal fight over who would cook dinner, according to Assistant District Attorney Jessica Collo. The altercation turned violent when Payano-Sanchez, 64, took out a gun and shot Gutierrez-Cedano, 59, who was in a wheelchair at the time.
Following the initial attack, Payano-Sanchez’s adult son attempted to take the gun away from his father, but he was shot in the stomach sometime during the scuffle. Payano-Sanchez then went upstairs and killed his wife’s 74-year-old aunt, Dominga Cedano-Cedano.
While Payano-Sanchez’s son, 33 — who was not publicly named in the press release from the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office — survived the shooting, his wife and her aunt both died at the scene before emergency services could arrive and provide life-saving measures. Two children, who were reportedly 2 years old and 7 years old at the time of the incident, were also in the home during the attack, but they were physically unharmed.
“Payano-Sanchez’s son was taken to a hospital with serious injuries while Payano-Sanchez himself was treated for superficial self-inflicted injuries,” the press release on the incident read, noting that bullet fragments still remain in the son’s body. “West Hempfield Township Police initially requested a Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) be dispatched to the residence for a report of a barricaded gunman, though Payano-Sanchez surrendered to police at the scene before they departed.”
The charges against Payano-Sanchez were later filed by West Hempfield Township Police Det. Sgt. Robert Bradfield.
On Friday, January 30, Payano-Sanchez pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal homicide, one count of attempted criminal homicide, one count of aggravated assault, one count of endangering the welfare of children and one count of possession of an instrument of crime.
Prior to his sentencing, Cedano-Cedano’s daughter wrote a letter to the court in which she explained that her mother’s death “left a void that can never be filled.” She described the deaths as a “ trauma” the family would have to carry “for the rest of our lives.”
Payano-Sanchez, who spoke through an interpreter in court, couldn’t or wouldn’t explain why he’d committed the horrible crime. Although he asked his family for forgiveness, he admitted, “I need to face what the law is imposing on me.”
His double life sentence will be followed by 20 to 40 years in state prison. Payano-Sanchez was also ordered to pay $11,000 in restitution. In addition, he is legally not allowed to have contact with the victims’ families for as long as he lives.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
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