Two teen-agers were sentenced to at least 50 years in prison Wednesday for murdering two Roman Catholic priests in their rectories. The trial judge, state Supreme Court Justice Frederick Marshall, sentenced the pair to the maximum term, and said he wished he could have imposed the death penalty, which was abolished in New York in 1965. Marshall told defendents Theodore Simmons, 19, and Milton Jones, 18, the sentence was meant to ``voice the outrage and disgust of the community.'' The two were convicted in separate trials of robbing, torturing and murdering the Rev. A. Joseph Bissonette, 55, in St. Bartholomew's Church on Feb. 24, 1987 and Monsignor David Herlihy, 74, in St. Matthew's church on March, 7, 1987. The crimes sent shock waves through the city, and terrorized churchmen. A clergyman from the poor neigborhood where the slayings occurred testified that he slept with a ceremonial sword at his bedside because he feared the tough youths who came to his rectory late at night looking for handouts. The defense for both Simmons and Jones claimed that the youths' underprivileged upbringing contributed to the crimes. The judge rejected the argument and said the pair ``stripped them (the priests) of all human dignity.'' In his final statement, Simmons, who tried to blame Jones for the killings, said, ``I did not kill anyone ... everything exploded in my face and I did not know what to do.'' Jones said through his attorney he was sorry for the crimes. ``Something happened that he got caught up in and just did not known how to extricate himself,'' Jones' attorney Jeffrey Sellers told the judge. Relatives of the two slain priests said they were struck by a lack of emotion from the defendants. Nan Gallivan, Monsignor Herlihy's niece, said the defendants did not appear remorseful at any time during the trial. Raymond Bissonette, brother of the Rev. Bissonette, said the prison terms were ``something that had to be done.'' Marshall sentenced Simmons and Jones to two consecutive 25 years-to-life terms, which means the pair will not be eligible for parole until they have served 48{ years, counting the time they already have been held.
