Man sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing partner on York beach [Video]

A Massachusetts man who admitted to beating his partner to death three years ago in York Beach was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison.

Jeffrey Buchannan, 36, pleaded guilty to murder this month for killing his longtime partner, 35-year-old Rhonda Pattelena, on March 26, 2021.

Attorneys on both sides said afterward that they thought the sentence was fair. But before the sentence was delivered, Pattelena’s friends and family had pleaded with Superior Justice Richard Mulhern to sentence Buchannan beyond the 43-year cap agreed to with prosecutors.

“Rhonda’s rights were taken by the defendant,” said her mother, Lauri Pattelena. “He shouldn’t have any either. Her ability to live, breathe, watch her boys and love them unconditionally were taken at the hands of an evil monster.”

Pattelena’s loved ones wore shirts reading “Justice for Rhonda” as they sat in the York County courtroom. Her friends, mother and sister read handwritten remarks to the judge. They described a mother …