Deaf man gets 21-year-to-life sentence for stabbing girlfriend, stuffing her in drum

A deaf man was sentenced to 21-years-to-life behind bars on Wednesday for the savage murder of his 19-year-old girlfriend in 2013.

Bismark Lithgow, 26, cried before he was sent away for viciously stabbing Francis Pellerano 38 times inside his grandmother's apartment, then stuffing her body into a 55-gallon drum.

“I want to say I’m sorry,” he said, sobbing, through a sign language interpreter at his sentencing in Manhattan Supreme Court. “I did the wrong thing and it is my fault.”

Justice Laura A. Ward said Lithgow’s actions showed “a total disregard for human life.”

 

A deaf man was sentenced to 21-years-to-life behind bars on Wednesday for the savage murder of his 19-year-old girlfriend in 2013.

Bismark Lithgow, 26, cried before he was sent away for viciously stabbing Francis Pellerano 38 times inside his grandmother's apartment, then stuffing her body into a 55-gallon drum.

“I want to say I’m sorry,” he said, sobbing, through a sign language interpreter at his sentencing in Manhattan Supreme Court. “I did the wrong thing and it is my fault.”

Justice Laura A. Ward said Lithgow’s actions showed “a total disregard for human life.”

Prosecutors said Lithgow killed Pellerano in a jealous rage after he accused her of talking to other men online.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said Lithgow “had a history of irrational and controlling behavior in relationships, even attempting to hire a hitman to kill an ex-girlfriend whom he believed had been unfaithful.”