Key witness in Joseph Silva murder trial avoids prison
Ex-girlfriend gave testimony that helped lead to conviction
HARTFORD – Kailei Opalacz, a 22-year-old Glastonbury woman who was double-murderer Joseph Silva's on-and-off girlfriend, avoided prison Monday at her sentencing on a charge of hindering prosecution.
Opalacz testified against Silva at his trial, providing key evidence that allowed the state to win a conviction on two counts of murder. Silva faces sentencing Jan. 10 after a jury took 18 minutes to convict him of two counts of murder and a single count of murder with special circumstances in October. He'll likely be in prison the rest of his life.
The family of Silva's victims remain convinced Opalacz played more of an active role in the murders than she has admitted, but prosecutor Robin Krawczyk said there was simply no evidence to charge Opalacz with anything more than the second-degree hindering prosecutor charge she pleaded guilty to prior to Silva's trial.
Krawczyk, who successfully prosecuted Silva, told Hartford Superior Court Judge Laura F. Baldini that she was troubled that no one with Silva at the time of the killings did anything to stop them, or talked to police in the immediate aftermath. Opalacz did not tell the truth until Hartford detectives arrested her, Krawczyk said.
“She provided useful testimony,” Krawczyk said, adding she was an eyewitness to the killings and was able to tell jurors what happened. The case could not have been proven without Opalacz, Krawczyk said.
Still, the relatives of victims Joshua Cortez, 22, of Hartford, and Alysha Ocasio, 23, of Newington, wanted Opalacz to go to prison.
Opalacz played a key role in the murders and should serve a long prison sentence, said Nancy Navedo, Ocascio's mother. “I hope her parents never have to feel the pain I felt and still feel to this day,” she said.
Marisol Flores, Cortez's mother, told the judge she did not believe Opalacz was remorseful about the killings.
“She's a murderer,” Flores said. “She did not pull the trigger, but she initiated it and she enjoyed it. She could have stopped it.”
Opalacz's lawyer, Jefferson Jelly, told the judge there was no evidence to even suggest that Opalacz played a role in the killings. “What she's being sentenced for is acts and omissions after this senseless homicide,” he said. The only thing Opalacz could do after the killings was agree to cooperate with prosecutors and she did, Jelly said.
“It was the only thing she could do to try to make right what happened that night,” Jelly said. “She didn't do it as a trade for something.” And sending Opalacz to prison would send the wrong message to witnesses the state needs to cooperate in prosecutions.
When it came her time to speak, Opalacz turned to the victims' family members in the courtroom gallery and told them she was sorry. “If I could have prevented it, I would have,” she said.
The victims' families were not receptive to her apology. “It's time for your sentence. That's why you're sorry,” Flores told her.
The judge said she was troubled by the choices Opalacz has made and the men with whom she has chosen to associate. “You're a follower and you have deliberately associated yourself with people who don't have a positive impact on you,” Baldini said.
Still, when it came time to do the right thing, Opalacz stepped up, the judge said. “The court must look at what your testimony did in taking a brutal murderer off the street,” Baldini said. “It's not often when we have people willing to testify in a proceeding, much less a murder, much less a double murder. You did that.”
Baldini asked the victims' families to consider how they would view the situation had Silva not been convicted. Many families who have lost loved ones to violence do not get the satisfaction of a conviction because witnesses refuse to testify, she said.
The judge then gave Opalacz a 10-year suspended jail sentence and five years of probation. Should she violate the terms of probation, Baldini warned, she should expect to go to jail. The judge also ordered Opalacz to complete 100 hours of community service each year she is on probation.