Man who killed best friend’s parents sentenced to prison

Amanda Hewitt can never forgive the man who killed her parents.

"I wish he could have gotten the death penalty just to show him how my parents felt," the 25-year-old said Wednesday after the sentencing of Victor Veliz to consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

Veliz, 21, who plotted against and killed his best friend's parents in 2009, earlier this year pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the September 2009 slayings of Thomas and Carla Chester.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against Veliz.

Veliz's best friend, Timothy Chester, was sentenced last year to two prison terms of life without parole.

For his part, Veliz apologized in a statement and said he was "ashamed of my actions and that I have brought so much pain in to so many lives."

He added that being "sorry to the victims of my crime is not enough, and it doesn't cover how I truly feel."

But Hewitt, who couldn't take living in Las Vegas anymore and moved to Michigan after her parents' deaths, told Judge J. Charles Thompson she is living "a nightmare that never ends" and suffers "unending grief and sorrow."

Veliz appeared to have become a shell of himself since the killings in 2009. He is thinner, clean shaven and now has short hair. Dressed in loose-fitting navy jail scrubs, he stood with his head down for most of the hearing.

Afterward, Hewitt described how much her parents "absolutely loved" Veliz and how he was always accepted in their home. Veliz has been described as a quiet boy who had few friends.

"I never would have thought he or my brother would have done that," Hewitt said.

Meanwhile, Hewitt described her relationship with her brother as "stable."

She said she does occasionally talk to him on the phone, but she doesn't always take his calls. There are days, Hewitt said, when she can't bring herself to talk to her brother.

Authorities said that Timothy Chester planned the deaths and that Veliz carried out the killings.

Thomas Chester was shot twice in the head. His wife was stabbed several times and suffered blunt-force trauma.

Prosecutors described Timothy Chester as a lazy, selfish high school dropout who got angry with his parents when they asked him to help out around the house.

Defense lawyers suggested that Thomas Chester, 57, was an abusive alcoholic who often yelled and that Carla Chester, 51, was an overbearing mother who once hit her son with a cane.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.