BIDDEFORD, Maine — The man who bludgeoned his fiancé to death with a rock at York Beach three years ago apologized to the victim’s family Wednesday as he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Jeffrey Buchannan’s attorney, Jon Gale, maintained his client suffered from mental illness that caused delusions. He said Buchannan was starting a new medication when he went to Short Sands Beach with his girlfriend, Rhonda Pattelena, on March 26, 2021. Gale said Buchannan’s crime was tragic but not premeditated.
Buchannan, moments before being brought to the House of Corrections to serve his sentence, told the court and a room full of Pattelena’s family he was “so, so sorry.”
“There is not a moment that I don’t think about you,” Buchannan said, referring to Pattelena with whom he had a son.
“To her family,” he said, “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I have the worst punishment of all, which is to relive (the crime) over and over. I’m not asking for forgiveness. Because I can’t, I won’t forgive myself.”
The sentencing took place in York County Superior Court three years after Buchannan committed the murder. He pleaded guilty earlier this month, having previously attempted to plead insanity.
Pattelena’s family and friends asked Judge Richard Mulhern to hand down the maximum sentence. Buchannan pleaded guilty under the condition his prison term was capped at 45 years. The loved ones of his victim said they wished he served life without parole.
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