Wife beater gets 10 years

Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona V. Manglona yesterday slapped a 10-year prison term on a former Public School System employee who used a rifle, machete, and a knife to beat up his wife, seriously injuring her.

The sentence against 42-year-old Vicente Limes Laniyo is without parole.

Manglona ordered Laniyo to pay a $1,000 fine and submit to counseling at the Community Guidance Center.

“What you did to your wife is not acceptable!” the judge told the defendant, who bowed his head as he and counsel, assistant public defender Richard Miller, listened to the sentence.

Manglona said that violence against domestic partners has to be stopped.

Manglona said the case is very troubling because the wife’s injuries were so serious and numerous. “[It’s] only a miracle [that] she is still alive,” the judge said.

Manglona said Laniyo, who weighs 260 pounds according to a pre-sentence report, is almost three times the size of his wife.

Laniyo was last assigned at the PSS food and nutrition service program.

Manglona said the means used by the defendant were not his hands but three weapons—a rifle, a large machete, and a small knife.

The judge said that, according to the victim, Laniyo was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs when the beating happened.

Manglona said Laniyo repeatedly struck the victim just to get her to confess that she’s is fooling around.

Manglona said photos of the victim showed how serious the extent of the beating was.

The judge said the case is very similar to the 2003 case against Larry Banal Aguilar, who hacked his domestic partner to death using a machete. In that case, Manglona meted out a 50-year prison term without parole on Aguilar, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

“The victim in Aguilar’s case died. In this case, she is still here,” she said.

Manglona said Laniyo’s case is a grave concern because it happened after the Aguilar case and many other domestic violence convictions in the Commonwealth.

“The way to change has to be consistent with your conduct and not by words,” the judge said.

She hopes that the six children of Laniyo and the victim will stand by their mother by supporting her financially, physically, and emotionally.

In 2007, the Attorney General’s Office charged Laniyo with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of assault and battery, and one count of kidnapping.

Laniyo entered a plea agreement with the government. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and battery. The remaining charges were dismissed.

The factual basis of the agreement stated that on Aug. 26, 2007, Laniyo caused serious bodily harm on his wife, including severe lacerations on her back, head, hand, and thighs, while in possession of an air rifle.

According to the victim’s statement to the police, she and her husband were talking shortly before midnight in their house in Garapan when he accused her of fooling around.

Laniyo then started hitting her with a machete, a rifle, and a pocket knife.