GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — In Brown County Court on Friday, a sentence was handed down for Wesley Brice following a horrifying night of violence that left one person dead and another wounded.
“I’m speechless at my actions and I'm deeply sorry,” said Wesley Brice.
Judge John Zakowski said that Brice, 24, was under the influence of drugs the night of the attack.
"It's going to be 79.5 years before you're eligible for parole. Unless you live to be 100 years old, you'll be remaining in prison and that fits the crime here,” said Zakowski.
On the night of March 15, 2021, a bartender was stabbed, then minutes later a 70-year-old man was stabbed and later died, authorities said.
Officials have called it an “unprovoked attacked."
Brice was convicted in October after pleading no contest to five counts, including first degree intentional homicide and first degree reckless endangering safety.
Family members grieving their loss spoke ahead of Brice's sentencing.
"You inflicted pain on my brother, and it hurts me to the core... My brother didn't do anything to you. He was a good person,” said the deceased victim’s sister.
To protect victims' identities, those who spoke in court were not identified by name.
The bartender who survived the stabbing spoke to Brice face-to-face.
“I’ve tried to come up with the words for the last two years on what to say to you and what to do," said the bartender.
"I want full justice."
Brice's family did not address the courtroom, but the defendant’s attorney did read letters written by his sister and mom.
"Wesley has a good sense of humor, managing to... put a smile on someone’s face. Genuinely a good person, well-mannered, soft spoken. I feel I failed Wes as a parent thinking what could've been differently [sic],” said Brice’s mother in a letter read by the defendant’s attorney.
"Underneath everything you're a good person but you were a monster that night,” Zakowski, the judge, said.
