Judge sentences Gribble to life in prison; assures Jaimie Cates she is safe

"To the murderer in this courtroom ... this verdict is not justice, but I can only hope that justice will find you soon.''

Cates, who was away on business at the time of the attack, said that both he and his daughter treasure their memories of Kimberly, and that his daughter's body has been harmed, but her spirit is strong and unbroken despite the cruelty she has endured.

"She continues to trust in humanity,'' he said.

Jaimie Cates, accompanied by some friends, was squeezed in next to father in the front row of the courtroom. She wore a plaid wool jacket and has long dark, wavy hair similar to her mother’s, and did not show any signs of disability from losing a portion of her foot after suffering numerous wounds in the attack.

Under New Hampshire law, Gribble pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and then asked the jury to find that he was insane. If the jury had found that he was legally mentally ill, Gribble would have been sent to a secure psychiatric unit at state prison where his mental status would be reviewed every five years, leaving open the possibility of his regaining his freedom someday.

The jury’s verdict of guilty unleashed a wave of emotion in the courtroom. David Cates wept quietly with apparent relief. He later shared hugs with one of the prosecutors on the case, Jeffrey Strelzin.

Emotion was also evident among jurors, who endorsed their verdicts in strong voices when polled by a court official. The foreman, moreover, made it a point to look directly at Gribble each of the six times he spoke the words, “guilty.’’

Gribble, however, displayed no obvious emotion.

He also faced the jury’s verdict by himself. Neither his father nor his mother were in the courtroom today. Gribble had claimed during the trial he was abused by his mother and wanted to kill her.

Gribble was convicted of two counts of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit burglary and witness tampering. The double murder charge is a technical procedure under New Hampshire law.

In closing arguments Thursday, Gribble was described as calm when he plunged his knife into Kimberly Cates’s body, choosing precisely where he knew the wounds would be the most devastating.

After the killing, a prosecutor said, Gribble methodically searched through the victim’s drawers, looking for jewelry to sell.

In the following days, as investigators drew near, Gribble told Spader, his accomplice, “I deal with the cops, remember?’’

Gribble’s actions before, during, and after the slaying were proof that he was not insane when he and Spader stabbed the mother and daughter, said the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley.

“Being a callous, vicious sociopath is a description,’’ Hinckley said during an impassioned closing argument that ran for almost two hours. “It’s not insanity under the law. . . . Find him sane. Hold him responsible. And send this killer to prison.’’

Gribble, 21, is the last man to stand trial for the attacks, which shocked the state because of their randomness and brutality.

Donna Brown, Gribble’s lawyer, told jurors during her 45-minute closing argument Thursday that her client suffers from a personality disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, and depression.

She said the influence of Spader, the hatred that Gribble had toward his mother, and the sadness that overwhelmed him when his girlfriend broke up with him created “a perfect storm of tragic events that he couldn’t control any longer.’’

“Something rose up from inside him to the surface and could not be controlled,’’ Brown said.

Abramson had instructed the jury of seven men and five women that they must decide whether Gribble suffered from a mental defect at the time of the attacks and whether that defect was the reason behind his actions.

During his testimony last week, Gribble said it was possible he would kill again if he is released.

On Thursday, dressed in a light green button-down shirt and tie, Gribble looked more like a fastidious office intern than an accused killer. He sat with his ankles crossed at the defense table, neatly arranging markers and scribbling notes. At one point, he carefully labeled his plastic cup of water, and then those of his lawyers, with a marker.

Brown told the jury that Gribble was desperate to fit into some kind of group and sought Spader’s friendship because he had “run out of friends.’’

Gribble could control his urges to kill, Brown explained, as long as he was part of a rigid system, like the Boy Scouts or his church. But he had to leave Boy Scouts when he turned 18, she said, and he felt that he no longer fit in at his church.

“Chris longed to belong,’’ she said, speaking softly, in stark contrast to Hinckley, whose voice boomed during his closing argument.

But Hinckley told the jurors not to let Gribble use mental illness as an excuse, adding that none of the mental health experts who testified, including those who spoke on behalf of the defense, said Gribble was legally insane.

The closing arguments followed the last witness, state medical examiner Jennie Duval, who explained in detail each of the 32 wounds that Kimberly Cates suffered.

John Ellement and Martin Finucane of the Globe staff contributed to this report.