By Philip Newman
The Springfield Gardens man convicted of shooting his parents to death in 2011 will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Tuesday.
Shane Jaggarnauth, 26, formerly of 121-47 Grayson St., was convicted May 21 of the first-degree murder of his parents, Sugrim Jaggarnauth and his wife Rosie Jaggarnauth Sept. 2, 2011, in their bedroom. He was also convicted of criminal possession of a weapon.
“The defendant has been found guilty of parricide — the act of killing his own parents — which in his case occurred without warning or provocation,” Brown said. “Such a brutal and morally reprehensible crime calls for a lengthy prison sentence to ensure that justice is served and society is protected.”
As to why the parents were murdered, a representative for the district attorney’s office said the question was “not noted” at the trial.
A jury of seven men and five women after a four-week trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak found Jaggarnauth guilty. The judge set sentencing for June 25 at which time Juggarnauth faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The district attorney said that, according to the trial testimony, Shane Jaggarnauth and an unidentified person entered the bedroom of his parents’ home around 4 a.m. while his parents slept.
Sugrim Jaggarnauth was shot fatally in the forehead at close range. Rosie Jaggarnauth was shot in the forehead but was able to grab the telephone and summon help, but she died while on the line with a 911 operator while being hit by three more bullets.
Shortly afterward, Shane Jaggarnauth also called 911 to report that he, too, had been shot by an intruder who, he said, murdered his parents. Jaggarnauth was taken to a Queens hospital where he was treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound in the left shoulder.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
