Waukesha - Chris Long approached the podium in a small courtroom in the Waukesha County Courthouse.
Behind him Tuesday morning sat his mother, Margaret Long, and other family members. To his left sat Chad Lurvey, in an orange jumpsuit, beside his attorneys and three sheriff's deputies. Lurvey had been convicted of killing Long's younger brother, Andrew of Milwaukee, and Brian Lazzaro of Mukwonago, nearly nine years ago in a dispute over drugs and money, and was awaiting his sentence.
Chris Long testified that he prayed for healing. But he didn't extend the wish to Lurvey.
"May your life be painful and filled with regret," he said to Lurvey.
After listening to the testimony from Long and others, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Patrick C. Haughney sentenced Lurvey to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The sentences will run consecutively, Haughney said.
During his statement, Long blamed the Lurvey family for bailing Lurvey out so many times. He also asked Haughney to deliver the maximum sentence to Lurvey for taking a piece out of so many lives.
Long's mother, Margaret Long, also spoke, along with Tracy Lazzaro, the mother of Lazzaro's son. Before changing her name, Tracy Lazzaro's name was Tracy Parker.
Tracy Lazzaro, like Margaret Long, talked about the victims' children and how she had been forced to raise a child on memories alone.
"We do not forgive him," she said about Lurvey, her voice wavering as she talked about how she was unsure if the Lazzaro family would be able to forgive him.
Lurvey declined to speak. Before sentencing, Lurvey's attorney, Stephen Hurley, suggested a sentence of 30 years in prison, with the possibility of extended supervision, or parole, which was denied.
During Lurvey's sentencing, Haughney told the defendant that he didn't take advantage of the opportunities afforded him in life. Instead, he took opportunities away from others, especially from the children of Lazzaro and Long, who will grow up without their fathers.
Haughney also mentioned Lurvey's attempts to conceal the double homicide, telling Lurvey that for anyone with a conscience, concealing the bodies would have been a horrible ordeal. It doesn't appear, Haughney said, that Lurvey had a conscience. In addition, he said, there's no question in the court's mind that Lurvey committed the crimes.
"You can't be trusted to walk the streets again," Haughney said. "I don't think you can be rehabilitated."
At the beginning of the sentencing, two counts of bail jumping were dismissed. Haughney set a court date for October to rule on a defense request for a mistrial and for a status conference to discuss court costs and restitution. Lurvey has 20 days to begin an appeal.
Prosecutors had accused Lurvey of killing the two men with blasts from a sawed-off shotgun and submerging their bodies in a lake on Lurvey family property in Ottawa in August 2002.
The case against Lurvey was based on circumstantial evidence. There were no eyewitnesses.
Lurvey admitted to investigators that Lazzaro and Long were at his home on Aug. 24, 2002, and that they took cocaine and $5,000 he gave them and left.
Lurvey was charged in July 2009 with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of Lazzaro and Long. It took investigators that much time to gather evidence, including holding a secret John Doe hearing, against him.
The bodies of Lazzaro and Long, both 25, were found in a 6-acre private lake.
Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel Staff contributed to this report.