Prince Hepburn stood motionless as he was sentenced to 60 years in the Supreme Court yesterday morning.

The contractor, who was convicted of the gruesome murder of Nellie Mae-Brown-Cox, will serve 57 years after having served three years already.

The 42-year-old former Heart Association president was hacked to death in April 2011.

Hepburn and Brown-Cox were involved in an extramarital affair. They had both tried to divorce their spouses to be together.

Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Neville took the stand briefly before the sentencing and said that Hepburn expressed remorse to him and at first showed signs of deep depression thinking of only death.

Dr. Neville also pointed out while speaking in court that mental illness is prevalent in The Bahamas more than the average person thinks.

Hepburn’s attorney Murrio Ducille maintained that Hepburn was not responsible for Brown-Cox’s death because he was not in the right state of mind.

However, in her ruling, Justice Indra Charles said she took into consideration aggravating and mitigating factors.

She came to the conclusion that Hepburn be considered a danger to the public and himself as he killed a woman that he loved and thought about committing suicide.

She said she has never seen Hepburn show remorse nor does she think he has taken full responsibility for what he has done.

“Brown-Cox’s young life was taken away in such a gruesome fashion and premeditation was indeed clear,” she said.

“Hepburn was deemed obsessed with the deceased as he had the time to stalk Brown-Cox, think, purchase cutlasses and then have them inscribed with things like “liar, cheater and this is what cheaters get.”

Justice Charles says a signal must be sent to the public that the court will not tolerate criminality of this matter.

During her briefing of the sentencing Hepburn sat seemingly sat unaffected as she made her conclusions.

Brown’s sister Clementina Brown spoke briefly before the sentencing in court as well.

She told the court that her sister had been taken away unnecessarily and left them with many unanswered questions.

She described Brown-Cox as one who always gave of herself and wanted the best for everyone and was making sure of that a few weeks before she was taken away.
After the sentencing, Brown- Cox’s sister expressed content with the judge’s ruling.

“We have already forgiven, my sister can rest in peace,” Ms. Brown said. “We can look at making life better and moving on with our lives, we’re happy with the sentence.”

Mr. Ducille has already made plans to appeal.