NORTHAMPTON — Weighing emotional stories of loss from the victim’s family members and a tearful plea for leniency from the defendant’s daughter, Hampshire Superior Court Judge Francis Flannery sentenced Cara Rintala to 12 to 14 years in prison for killing her wife, Annamarie Cochrane Rintala, in Granby in 2010.

Rintala will have 4½ to 6½ years to serve, having already spent 7½ years incarcerated since she was first indicted on a charge of murder in 2011.

“Taking a life is a terrible thing,” Flannery said in the packed courtroom before passing sentence, acknowledging the sense of loss described by Cochrane Rintala’s relatives, many of whom attended the sentencing.

“There’s no legal remedy that will make you whole again,” he said to them.

The jury on Oct. 5 found Rintala guilty of manslaughter, a lesser charge than murder, in the strangulation death, which Flannery called “an especially brutal crime.”

He acknowledged that Rintala’s life as a paramedic and her lack of a criminal record set her apart from most defendants, but he said he sensed that many of those who wrote letters in support of her did not accept the jury’s verdict.

“I accept the verdict, as I must,” he said.

First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne said prosecutors and Cochrane Rintala’s family members were “relieved and pleased” following Thursday’s two-hour hearing, saying it provided some measure of justice and closure after four trials.

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The commonwealth had asked for a sentence of 15 to 17 years on the manslaughter conviction, while the defense called for a sentence of time served.

Following victim-impact statements, Flannery agreed to defense attorney Rosemary Scapicchio’s request that Brianna, the now-16-year-old daughter adopted by Cara and Annamarie in 2007, be allowed to read a statement in court.

“Brianna is a victim,” Scapicchio said, rebutting Gagne’s assertion that Cara Rintala was the person responsible for the harm to her and the other family members.

“I’m asking you to release my mom immediately,” Brianna said through tears. “I need my mom.”

She said she remembered the first time her mother was taken away, when she was indicted, a heartbreak she has experienced over and over.

Her grandparents looked after her, took her to visit her mom when she was incarcerated, and they stayed in close touch through phone calls, cards and letters, she said.

Since 2021, when Rintala was released from prison on bail pending her fourth trial, they have lived together and Brianna said she has begun to shine in school.

After Brianna finished her statement, Scapicchio castigated prosecuting attorneys for not reaching out to her before sentencing.

“She was very disappointed. She wanted to be heard,” Scapicchio said.

She disputed the commonwealth’s assertion that it sought a longer sentence than the state’s guidelines for manslaughter because of aggravating factors such as the violent nature of the crime and Rintala’s efforts to conceal her involvement.

“They’re punishing her for exercising her right to a trial,” Scapicchio said, alleging that prosecutors’ requested sentence was double what they had offered in plea negotiations before trial.

Statements by several of Cochrane Rintala’s relatives, including parents Lucy and William Cochrane, brother Charles Cochrane, his former wife, Jennifer Cochrane, uncle Pasquale Martin and aunt Nancy Kaufman, were read in court.

All spoke of Annamarie as a loving, caring person, the life of family gatherings whose unfathomable death has left a gaping wound that never heals. Some called on the judge to impose the maximum sentence.

Several of the statements were written previously and read at the conclusion of Rintala’s 2016 trial. William Cochrane and Pasquale Martin both died in recent years.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl later thanked the family for their dedication over an “absolutely grueling 13 years of their lives. They’ve been with us all the way.”

This was the fourth trial for Rintala, with the first two ending in hung juries. She was convicted of murder at her third trial in 2016 and sentenced to life in prison, but the verdict was overturned on appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court, which ordered a fourth trial.

In the grand jury room afterward, with Suhl and Granby police officers at his side, Gagne said it was “unlike any other case Jen and I have been involved with.”

He acknowledged that it was a difficult case to prove, with no eyewitnesses, no confession and no DNA evidence to support conviction. Some jurors had trouble with the fact that Rintala had no visible injuries in the wake of the killing, he said.

But, he said the investigation was dogged and thorough, with potential suspects closely questioned before being eliminated from consideration.

“Every avenue we pursued, the evidence always came back to one person,” he said.

Scapicchio has said she plans to appeal the verdict.