Massachusetts Professor Sentenced For Beating And Torturing Colleague
A professor at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts has been sentenced for beating and torturing a colleague.
According to PEOPLE, on the evening of Dec. 23, 2019, art professor Rie Hachiyanagi, 50, allegedly terrorized fellow professor Lauret Savoy. She showed up at Savoy’s house to "talk about her feelings” and when Savoy expressed she did not have feelings for her, Hachiyanagi attacked her. She reportedly assaulted her with a fire poker and garden shear, leaving permanent injuries. The ordeal lasted four hours.
Hachiyanagi claimed she loved the geology professor for years. Savoy convinced her to call 911 after she pretended to love her as well.
Nearly killing her, Hachiyanagi called 911 and said that it was a home invasion. She said Savoy’s blood was on her because she was holding her. Thankfully, Savoy survived.
Last week, Hachiyanagi pleaded guilty to nine charges: three counts each of armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person older than 60, and single counts of home invasion, mayhem and entering a dwelling at night with intent to commit a felony.
On Oct. 20, Hachiyanagi was sentenced to 10 to 12 years in a Massachusetts state prison PEOPLE reports.
Savoy said in a victim impact statement, "She betrayed my trust, invaded my home, and tried to kill me with premeditated violence. The cruelty she wielded with weapons and expressed in words, was extreme."
According to a release from the Northwestern District Attorney's office, Judge Francis Flannery called the attack one of the "most horrific set of facts I've heard.”
