STATEN ISLAND — A former teacher was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after he was found guilty of murdering his wife inside their New Springville apartment in 2012, Acting District Attorney Daniel Master Jr. announced.
Jonathan Crupi, 33, stabbed his wife, Simeonette Mapes, 15 times inside their home after an argument. Crupi was sentenced by Judge Mario Mattei on Wednesday.
"The sentence handed down today is just punishment for such a horrific crime," Master said in a statement.
"I hope that [Mapes'] parents, family members, friends, colleagues and students can take comfort in knowing that justice has been served. But, no amount of time spent behind bars will ever bring back the wonderful woman the defendant violently took from them with his selfish and savage actions."
In July, Crupi was found guilty of the murder by a jury after a five-week trial where prosecutors argued the couple's fights about his frequent visits to prostitutes and his failure to complete his master's degree eventually led to Mapes' murder.
They said he even visited his "favorite prostitute" hours after he stabbed Mapes.
On July 5, 2012, the couple had an argument inside their Forest Hill Road apartment when Crupi pushed Mapes, 25, down a flight of stairs then stabbed her 15 times with a knife, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Crupi then ransacked their home to make it look like a burglar broke in and murdered Mapes. He then ran some errands, visited a prostitute, then came home and called 911 faking shock that his wife was killed, prosecutors said.
Several months before the murder, Crupi searched the Internet for "how to throat slash" and "what destroys DNA," prosecutors said.
In November 2012, Crupi was arrested and charged with murder. His former mother-in-law called him a "soulless demon" who never denied his guilt to her.
"He never reached out. He never once said he did not do this," Theresa Mapes previously told DNAinfo New York. "He never said, 'Mom, I did not do this.'"
Both Mapes and Crupi taught at the School for Classics and Academy of Thinkers, Writers and Performers in East New York. Mapes taught social studies and Crupi was an English teacher.
