Brian Mlyniec, center, convicted of the 2006 murder of Kelly Ann Andersen earlier this summer, listens as Judge Edwin J. Gale sentences him.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

WARWICK — The family of Kelly Ann Andersen only had one request: that her death be taken seriously.

The man charged in her killing, Brian Mlyniec, had been convicted of first-degree murder in July. A jury had decided that Andersen, who was strangled, beaten and sexually assaulted, had been a victim of aggravated assault. Because of that, Mlyniec could face no less than life in prison for what he’d done.

The family knew that. But they gathered in the Kent County Superior courtroom of Judge Edwin J. Gale anyway yesterday for the last time to make sure the court heard their request and kept Mlyniec locked away forever.

“This man does not deserve his freedom if my mom doesn’t have hers,” Maryellen Andersen, 21, told the court. “If this man does not deserve life without parole, who does and how much further do you have to go?”

Mlyniec was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole yesterday. The sentence amounts to Rhode Island’s version of capital punishment, Gale said. In addition, Mlyniec will serve 13 years for violating the terms of his probation in a 2001 sexual-assault case from North Kingstown. In his sentencing, Gale called Mlyniec an “extreme danger to our society,” and said that the savageness of Andersen’s murder pointed to a disturbed edge to Mlyniec’s personality.

“I find, despite his protestations to the contrary, [Mlyniec] lacks any true remorse, does not accept responsibility for any of his conduct, let alone the murder,” Gale said. “The defendant has an evil side to his persona and I find there is virtually no likelihood he’ll be rehabilitated.”

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch lauded the sentence as atonement for Andersen’s death.

“[She] suffered one of the most barbaric and violent sexual assaults possible before her tormenter –– someone she had considered a friend –– killed her,” Lynch said. “This demented sexual predator, who took advantage of [Andersen] and horribly and fatally brutalized her, will never be free again. On behalf of keeping our communities safe from a sadistic killer like this defendant, I thank the jury for affirming that [Andersen’s] death was consistent with aggravated battery, and I appreciate Judge Gale’s ruling [yesterday] ensuring that this murderer never has a chance of regaining his freedom.”

Andersen was found dead inside Mlyniec’s home on June 23, 2006, after the police received an anonymous call reporting a possible overdose. Officials arrived to the debris-laden house and found Andersen lying in the middle of the living room floor with visible injuries to her face, throat and neck. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Andersen’s family members pleaded for a harsh sentence in a letter read aloud in court by Special Assistant Attorney General Thomas H. O’Brien. “[Mlyniec] deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail for what he did,” he read. “She was not his first victim, but she must be his last.”

In the days following Andersen’s death and in his defense during the trial, Mlyniec would assert that he and Andersen engaged in consensual sex and that he’d tried to revive her when he noticed she was unconscious.

In his address to the court yesterday, Mlyniec berated the prosecution, said Andersen’s injuries were caused by multiple falls on the bathroom floor and reaffirmed his innocence.

“I feel terrible that Kelly Andersen’s family believes this liar,” Mlyniec said, referencing the prosecutor. “With God as my witness, I did not beat and murder Kelly Andersen.”

He said later: “I’m sorry and I hope that someday the family can find it in their hearts to forgive me for being part of this tragic event.”

Mlyniec also wrote Gale a 9 1/2 -page letter that he requested the judge consider before sentencing him. In his comments, Gale referred to sections of the letter where Mlyniec called Andersen’s death “tragic and senseless,” and his claim that he would “absolutely never intentionally do any harm or deliberately inflict any injuries to [Andersen].”

“It may be that Mlyniec truly believes these words and not unlike other murderers, Mlyniec may be in denial, total denial of his responsibility, of his conduct,” Gale said.

As the sentence was read, Mlyniec stood staring blankly at Gale, rocking slowly back and forth on his heels. Andersen’s family sobbed quietly from benches behind the bar.

Their plea had been heard.

tbuford@projo.com