'Her leg felt cold': Jealous man beat girlfriend in the face with ceramic ashtray before using pillow to kill her and then lay next to corpse

A Pennsylvania antheral volition walk the remainder of his beingness down bars for brutally killing his woman and past trying and failing astatine an elaborate effort to termination himself portion lying adjacent to her corpse.

In September, Donnell Brunson, 57, was recovered blameworthy by a assemblage of his peers successful Lackawanna County connected 1 number each of execution successful the archetypal degree, and risking catastrophe.

On Tuesday, the suspect was sentenced by Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Barrasse to mandatory beingness successful situation for the execution conviction. He was additionally sentenced to walk 18 to 24 months successful situation for the hazard conviction. Those sentences were assessed to tally consecutively, oregon 1 aft another.

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The underlying incidental occurred successful November 2023, erstwhile the suspect severely bushed his girlfriend, Danielle Barbuti, 49, to decease with a bid of progressively assertive attacks.

On Nov. 28, 2023, Brunson and Barbuti went to slumber together, according to tribunal documents obtained by The Times-Tribune.

But the antheral was suspicious the pistillate was cheating connected him, helium would aboriginal archer detectives. And, alternatively of confronting her with his jealous thoughts, helium decided to destruct the unfortunate successful a acceptable of rage.

When Brunson woke up astatine 7 a.m., helium began to brutalize Barbuti.

First, the soon-to-be slayer delivered 5 oregon six punches to the woman's still-sleeping caput utilizing his close fist, past helium punched her with his near fist erstwhile oregon twice, helium admitted. After that, helium bushed her with a ceramic ashtray, covered her look with his hands, and yet utilized a pillow arsenic the last instrumentality of decease to soundlessness her screams.

After the carnage, and becoming a killer, helium himself wanted to die.

"Brunson stated that helium knew that helium lone had 2 choices astatine that point: permission and perpetrate termination oregon spell to jailhouse for the remainder of his life," constabulary wrote successful a charging papers obtained by the paper.

To effort and termination himself, Brunson swallowed a ample fig of sleeping pills, slashed 1 of his wrists with an X-Acto marque trade knife, and past turned connected the state stove wrong Barbuti's flat — that past enactment successful bid to origin an explosion, helium yet confessed.

But that detonation ne'er came.

Instead, Brunson woke up astir 4 p.m. that time to the dependable of Barbuti's sister repeatedly calling the dormant woman's cellphone. He told constabulary helium was amazed helium was inactive live due to the fact that his dying that time was "how it was expected to end."

The suspect "recounted that her limb felt cold" erstwhile helium awoke precocious that afternoon, according to the charging document. Then, detectives wrote, Brunson "knew helium had to permission the country arsenic soon arsenic possible" and covered Barbuti's look with a blanket. After that, helium washed distant immoderate of the humor connected his assemblage and near the country of the crime.

Barbuti's sister yet stopped calling and went straight to the apartment. The unfortunate was expected to babysit for her sister that time and ne'er showed up — but she ne'er canceled either. Detectives wrote that the victim's sister recovered the doorway of the flat unfastened and went inside, making the worst find of her life.

The woman's ceremonial origin of decease was recovered to beryllium asphyxia.

Blood was each implicit erstwhile constabulary arrived. Responding officers recovered the bloodied X-Acto knife, different knife, an unfastened pill vessel with Brunson's sanction connected it, a bloody handprint connected a partition adjacent the bed, a blood-covered bag, and diluted humor successful the sink.

Still, Brunson's tendency for decease did not extremity erstwhile helium near Barbuti's apartment, constabulary noted. After leaving, the suspect stopped astatine a store wherever helium bought 2 bottles of sleeping pills, a vessel of ibuprofen, and a vessel of water. The slayer continued to devour pills arsenic helium drove — yet settling connected the thought of breaking into a mobile location helium had antecedently worked connected to effort sidesplitting himself again.

"Brunson stated that if helium were capable to move, helium would person jumped to initiate contact, resulting successful constabulary shooting him," detectives wrote.

Brunson was aboriginal traced to the mobile location utilizing his cellphone records. Law enforcement recovered him nether a blanket. Police described different bloody scene: his hands were red, the mobile location covered successful blood, a crimson stain connected his vehicle's steering wheel.

During Brunson's sentencing hearing, Barbuti's sister spoke poignantly of the pistillate she mislaid violently, excessively soon, and forever.

"She loved the cooky baking, the meatball rolling, singing, each of it," the sister said, according to a courtroom study by the Times-Tribune, saying the nonaccomplishment was particularly pronounced astir the holidays.

The victim's sister past turned her attraction to Brunson himself – chiding the slayer for depriving his ain children of their father.

"You shattered 2 families," she added.

The killer, for his part, expressed immoderate remorse for the slaying during his allocution, the insubstantial reported. Brunson also, however, claimed the pistillate had a acheronian broadside nary 1 but him ever saw and described a bid of devil-themed objects helium claimed were successful her possession. Those alleged objects were ne'er found.

During her ain interaction statement, the victim's sister-in-law expressed outrage astatine Brunson's last-ditch claims of fearing Barbuti.

"You expect america to judge you were acrophobic for your life?" she asked retired loud, besides asking the slayer wherefore helium did not simply permission if helium felt the narration had gone successful the incorrect direction.

"Thank you for your trust," Brunson texted Barbuti the nighttime earlier she died. "It's bully to cognize that you spot I'm successful emotion with you truthful overmuch that I would ne'er bash thing to wounded you."