A Wisconsin woman was sentenced to life in prison on Friday after she was convicted of killing her friend with poisoned eye drops, as the victim's friend told the killer "hell" awaits her.
Jessy Kurczewski, 40, fatally poisoned 62-year-old Lynn Hernan in 2018 and stole nearly $300,000 from her estate, authorities said. Kurczewski was convicted in November of charges including first-degree intentional homicide and theft.
The sentencing included emotional statements from friends of the victim, including James Kelliher, according to local outlets including Fox 6.
"The devil awaits you," Kelliher told Kurczewski. "I hope you rot in hell."
Kurczewski remained stoic in the Waukesha, Wisc., courtroom as Judge Jennifer Dorow handed down her sentence.
"I think the criteria that I have when I think of it are not only the seriousness of the offense but also the need to protect the public; that's one of the key factors here," Dorow said.
Kurczeweski will be eligible for parole after 40 years, making her "older than Lynn would be today," Dorow said, saying that the sentences for the homicide and theft convictions would run consecutively.
Dorow said that Kurczeweski had falsified documents, covered her tracks, and justified her motives before pointing the blame elsewhere when she was caught.
During a victim impact statement, one of Hernan's friends called Kurczewski a monster and said that the sentences were too lenient.
Kurczeweski maintains that Hernan willingly drank Visine bottles and died by suicide. Her attorney vowed to appeal, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"She took it to help her sleep, and it took away her pain," Kurczewski said in her two-hour testimony prior to sentencing, also sharing letters allegedly written by Hernan.
"To say I killed someone who I considered family?" Kurczewski said. "It just doesn't make sense."
Hernan's friends described her as a loving woman who cared for animals and her family, and who enjoyed going to the beach.
They pleaded for the judge to sentence Kurczewski to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
