More than 30 years after an Oakland County man killed his stepmother, he’ll soon be resentenced.
The case is being impacted by court rulings that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles are unconstitutional.
That resentencing hearing is on Tuesday (Oct. 10) and can result in multiple outcomes.
“My aunt was robbed of her life, but he’ll get out at the age of 58 to go on and live,” said Trish Hecker.
Hecker was just 14 when she was in a search party for her aunt, Helen Roberts Bazzeta, in 1983. Bazzeta’s body was found by hunters five years later.
In 1989, Joseph Bazzeta and his wife, Michelle Grandis Bazzetta, were sentenced to life for the bludgeoning and strangulation death of his stepmother, Helen Roberts Bazzeta.
“We’ve always followed the case very closely,” Hecker said. “When Michelle Grandis us came up for, you know, parole, we were there, obviously objecting, but she has been paroled, so now this is the next step, I guess.”
Sitting through that process doesn’t make this upcoming one for Joseph Bazzetta any easier.
“The reason why the original judge gave him that sentence was because of the heinous nature of the crime,” Hecker said. “None of that has changed. We’re very hopeful. Of course, we don’t know what this judge will roll, but we’re very hopeful that, you know, he will continue to have the maximum sentence, which we understand to be 60 years.”
Even with that maximum sentence, he would be eligible for parole after 35 years, and that would be in 2024. The judge also has the option to sentence less time.
“I really, truly worry because the reason why he killed her was because she was interfering in his life,” Hecker said. “What is he going to do to the next person who interferes in his life? Like, why do we think he’s changed.”
We reached out to Joseph Bazzetta’s attorney, and she declined to make any type of statement.