Four minutes. Six pulls at the trigger. That’s all it took for 16-year-old Eric Sweeney to take three lives in his brother’s family.
On Friday, Sweeney was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison for the 2022 murders of his sister-in-law, Kassandra Sweeney, and her two boys — 4-year-old Benjamin and 23-month-old Mason — in their Northfield home.
“The defendant with no provocation, no justification, no thought or care for the consequences of his actions, savagely slaughtered each of them by shooting them, leaving their bodies on the floor of the home they shared with him, that they welcomed him into when he had no place else to go,” said Judge John Kissinger, who presided over the sentencing hearing.
Kissinger said he hoped his sentence would both hold Sweeney accountable for his actions and provide the possibility of release if he can one day show that he is rehabilitated.
He said his sentence provides Sweeney a “very tight but narrow path” to achieve redemption.
If Sweeney completes a high school diploma or equivalent, successfully finishes a Department of Corrections-approved vocational program and demonstrates good behavior, six years of his sentence will be suspended.
That means he will not be eligible to appear before the parole board anytime before the age of 70.
Before grieving family members in a packed courtroom, Bethany Durand, an assistant attorney general, reminded the court that although Sweeney was a juvenile when he committed the murders, “his youth does not excuse his actions.”
“He shot her in the face after she watched her babies die,” Durand said. “He showed no fondness, no kindness, no love. He showed brutality. He demonstrated hatred. His killings were unprovoked and senseless.”
As part of Sweeney’s sentencing, the state asked that he not profit from his role in committing the murders in any manner, which includes selling rights or entering into a contract to sell rights to books, films, television, radio or podcast shows.
Sweeney has already spent 1,158 days in pretrial confinement. He was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and one count of falsifying evidence. He pleaded guilty to the murders earlier this year.
Sweeney was 16 at the time of the murders and was living in the home under Kassandra’s guardianship and that of her husband, Sweeney’s brother Sean.
Age doesn’t matter. A murderer is a murderer.
Kerri Carr, a close friend of Kassandra and her family
Within 20 minutes of leaving his victims dead on the floor, he spun a tale of a “non-existent murderer” that took their lives, said Durand. He maintained that story for three years, claiming he was innocent, until his plea hearing on Aug 15.
Peg Sweeney, great-grandmother of Benjamin and Mason, recalled how she had embraced Sweeney as one of her own. She never referred to him as a “half” or “step” relative; Instead, she let him call her “Gram,” took him to camp and taught him how to fish when he was just five years old.
But standing in the courtroom, her voice broke as she said she never wanted him to call her “Gram” again.
“You murdered my genealogy, the future generations of my family. You no longer deserve to carry this Sweeney name,” said Peg. “I won’t ever visit you, write you or reach out to you. You’ll sit in that prison the rest of your life with no visitors. You did this to yourself, and you justifiably deserve what you are in there for.”
The sentencing also prohibits Sweeney from having any contact with Sean and Kassandra’s family, though he is allowed to remain in touch with his mother.
While Sean was not present in court on Friday, Durand, the prosecutor, said he has “nothing to say” to Sweeney.
At least 11 people who knew and loved the family stepped up to tell Sweeney just how deeply his actions had affected their lives. They spoke of Kassandra’s warm and caring nature and of missing the giggles and laughter of her two young boys.
“You may have once shared our last name, but you are not a Sweeney,” said Jeff Sweeney, great-uncle to the two boys who died.
Troubled childhood
Sweeney’s attorneys said his actions were the result of a traumatic childhood. He was also at Hampstead Hospital just a few weeks before the murders, they noted.
Laura Prusiner, an attorney for Sweeney, said he grew up without a father and had a mother who made poor decisions. As a child, he ate off the floor, ate meals that were spoiled and wore dirty clothes, she said. He watched his mother’s boyfriend hit her and endured sexual abuse himself at just four years old.
Sweeney’s early years were unstable — he moved through several different homes before eventually going to live with his brother and his family in Northfield.
“Eric was repeatedly neglected and abused in life,” Prusiner said. “This kind of persistent neglect and abuse changes how a child’s brain develops.”
During his time with his brother’s family, Sweeney had behavioral issues, including lying and violating house rules. In March 2022, Sean and Kassandra petitioned the court to end their guardianship of Sweeney, citing growing tensions within the household. The court, however, denied their request.
“Eric did not know how to function in a normal household,” Prusiner said.
There were many instances of intervention by the Division for Children, Youth and Families.
Laurie Guidry, a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist called to testify by Sweeney’s defense, attributed Sweeney’s behavior in his brother’s house to the neglect and abuse he experienced in his early life.
“Behaviors he had adopted to survive were now problematic in a healthy setting,” she said.
In the three years his attorneys have known Sweeney, they said he has changed a lot.
Paul Golassa, Sweeney’s tutor, who has worked with him at the Sununu Youth Development Center for the past two years, said the Sweeney he knows today is “polite.” He shared that another teacher said “she felt safe when Eric was in her room.”
The family members in the room did not agree; some shook their heads in disagreement, while others audibly gasped.
“Eric has told me he wants to try to be a model prisoner,” Golassa said.
Prosecutors asked that Kissinger sentence Sweeney to 115 years in jail – 35 years to life for Kassandra’s death and 40 years to life for each of the boys’ deaths.
Sweeney’s attorneys said that sentencing him to a life sentence without parole would violate the state Constitution and asked for a sentence of 40 years to life, which they called “significant.”
“The state’s sentence does not allow for a meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation,” said Morgan Taggart-Hampton, another attorney for Sweeney. “It extinguishes all hope.”
“Eric is not a monster. He committed a monstrous crime,” Prusiner. “He is still a human being.”
Bereaved relatives speak
For the family and friends still grieving the loss of Kassandra, Benjamin and Mason, no punishment — no matter how severe — would feel sufficient or ever measure up to true justice.
Kristen Southwick, Kassandra’s mother, said Sweeney’s actions have left an “unbearable void” in her life. She misses the daily texts, photos, phone calls, hugs and kisses from her daughter.
“We will continue to forever grieve, have sadness, anger and trauma, and this all will continue to challenge our mental health,” Southwick said. “Eric, you are a coward who stood behind a gun after everything Kassandra and Sean and we did for you. This is how you repay us?”
As Sweeney sat shackled in the courtroom, chains binding his hands and feet, the weight of their grief filled the room. He listened motionless as they spoke of how their love for him had turned into bitterness and hatred.
Kerri Carr, a close friend of Kassandra and her family, pointed directly at Sweeney and accused him repeatedly: “Psychopath. Murderer. Liar. Worthless. Nothing. Guilty.”
“No amount of prison time can rehabilitate these acts that he committed, 30 years, 50, 90, life. It doesn’t matter. Nothing can undo it,” said Carr. “Age doesn’t matter. A murderer is a murderer.”