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Paul Gayle, 30, and Malik Erskine, 24, both of Springfield, were found guilty of multiple violent felonies in the "barbaric attack," Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni. Markendall Johnson, now 21, who was charged as a youthful offender because of his age on the day of the robbery, was also convicted in the case.
Gayle was sentenced to 35 to 40 years in state prison, and a judge gave Erskin an 18 to 20-year sentence, the prosecutor said.
Gayle, Erskine, and Johnson were accused of breaking into the Forest Park area home of Shi Can Chen in September 2019. Chen was using the Roosevelt Avenue house to run an illegal marijuana grow operation, the prosecutor said.
The trio zip-tied Chen and beat him for hours, burned him with a hot machete, covered him in an accelerant, and set him on fire, the prosecutor said. He was eventually able to escape and flag down an off-duty police officer.
Chen was left with second and third-degree burns on more than 50 percent of his body. He spent nearly eighty days in the burn unit of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he had to relearn how to walk, talk, and swallow because his injuries were so severe, authorities said.
Gayle, Erskine, and Johnson did all this to force Chen to wire $4,000, the prosecutor said.
“The victim in this case has suffered immensely both physically and mentally from the barbaric attack he suffered at the hands of the defendants," Gulluni said in a news release. "... I am hopeful this verdict brings some sense of justice to the victim who will forever live with the trauma he has suffered.”
Gayle was convicted of:
- Home invasion
- Armed assault in a dwelling
- Breaking and entering during the daytime for a felony
- Armed robbery (two counts)
- Kidnapping (two counts)
- Mayhem
- Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury
- Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
- Extortion by threat of injury
- Assault and battery
- Money laundering
- Conspiracy
- Witness intimidation
- Threat to commit a crime
Erskine was convicted of:
- Home invasion
- Armed assault in a dwelling
- Breaking and entering during the daytime for a felony
- Armed robbery
- Kidnapping (two counts)
- Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
- Extortion by threat of injury
- Assault and battery
- Money laundering
Hampden Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Schlemmer prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Plummer as his second chair and Assistant District Attorney Joe Coliflores served as appellate counsel, Gulluni said.
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