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Keith Hamel was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after he was convicted of murdering Kelsey Clifford with a hammer on November 11, 2019, the office reports.
Her body was later found outside the entrance of the Athol Wastewater Treatment Plant, WBZ NewsRadio reports. It is also alleged that Hamel tried to rob Clifford before killing her, MassLive reports.
After hearing from members of Clifford’s family, Franklin Superior Court Judge John Agostini said this was the most vicious case he'd ever witnessed.
“This was simply incomprehensible. This was as despicable and as violent a conduct as I’ve ever seen inflicted,” Agostini said. “I can only hope that the Clifford family can move on.”
According to her obituary, Clifford was a Leominster native who graduated from St. Bernard's High School in 2011. She left behind a son, her parents, her sister, grandparents and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Hamel was also sentenced to 8-10 years on two charges of misleading a police officer and 8-10 years on charges of tampering with evidence, and four counts of withholding evidence. Some of those sentences are concurrent with the murder sentence and some are consecutive, the office reports.
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