A California fire captain will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his fiancée and her 7-year-old son over a fight about how firefighters were portrayed in a movie.
Darin McFarlin, 47, shot Marissa Divodi-Lessa Herzog, 29, and her son Josiah in August after he freaked out while watching the Christian-themed movie “Fireproof” — which is about a fireman struggling in his marriage, according to the Sacramento Bee.
He also pointed the gun at his lover’s 9-year-old daughter, Serafina, letting her go after she begged for her life.
McFarlin, who worked at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, stormed out of the room in anger at the movie, which later sparked a heated argument in the bedroom.
McFarlin first tried to strangle Divodi-Lessa, who fled the room and said she was going to file a domestic violence report.
“Knowing his career would be over if the incident were reported,” McFarlin grabbed a gun, bashed her over the head with it, and then shot her while she was on the phone with her father in front of her 7-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office said.
He then turned the gun on the young boy, Josiah, and fatally shot him in the chest. McFarlin also pointed the gun at the 9-year-old girl, Serafina, who begged for her life before McFarlin told her to get out of the house through a doggy door.
She was later found safely hiding outside by police when they arrived at the bloody scene.
McFarlin drove off and was later arrested by authorities in Nevada and charged with murder. He was fired from his job with Cal Fire, where he’d worked since 2000.
“Ever since Darin killed my mother and brother JoJo, I have been really sad and in shock,” Serafina wrote in an emotional victim letter read aloud in court on Monday. “I miss them every single day.”
After he was sentenced to life without parole, McFarlin said he was “truly very sorry for what I did … especially to Serafina.”
“And I will be held accountable for this,” he said.
Moments after the apology, a family member of the victims shouted “Coward!” from the gallery, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“This was a horrific and senseless act of violence that stole two innocent lives and forever changed a family,” District Attorney Vern Pierson said during sentencing.
“Today’s sentence ensures that the defendant will never again have the opportunity to harm another person. Our hearts remain with the surviving child and all those who loved Marissa and her son.”
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