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DNA found under fingernails on a hand that was not incinerated helped lead to a sentence for strangulation, as Calvin Purdie Jr., 35, was sentenced to 20 to 40 years for third-degree murder and a consecutive term of 10 to 20 years for aggravated arson by a judge in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
"This was cold, heartless and vicious," Judge William Tully told Purdie, mentioning that he thought the case was "about as close to a first-degree murder case that you can come" without a first-degree murder verdict, according to PennLive.com.
Purdie was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend's mother, whose body was discovered in a 2019 fire. A jury convicted him of the crimes in November after a previous trial where jurors failed to reach an agreement on a verdict.
Purdie's DNA was discovered under the fingernails of the hand of 48-year-old Charlotte Chaplin that was not incinerated, prosecutors said. Authorities accused him of setting a fire to cover up the murder of Chaplin in May 2019 in Hershey.
The fire occurred May 23, 2019, about 6:44 a.m., according to police, the Dauphin Daily Voice reported. One of Chaplin's adult children and their daughter were asleep during the fire, but made it out alive. They had no knowledge of what happened to Chaplin until police arrived.
Purdie was found to have fresh scratches on his face the morning the fire occurred, PennLive.com reported.
Police said Purdie turned himself on July 17, 2019, according to Dauphin Daily Voice.
"He is a danger to society," District Attorney Fran Chardo said about Purdie, PennLive.com reported, "and he will remain a danger to society."
Kenneth Martin, Chaplin's son, said there is a sense of relief regarding Purdie being held liable for Chaplin's death, and "we're satisfied that he got the maximums for these charges," according to PennLive.com. He said that will help to let the family begin working on closure.
Authorities said Purdie was living with the victim and dating her daughter at the time, and prosecutors said Purdie had come to see Chaplin as a "barrier" to his relationship with her daughter.
Defense attorneys said their client had nothing to do with the killing and suggested a stalker or ex-boyfriend of the victim may have been responsible, PennLive.com reported. Prosecutors said the other people suggested by the defense all had solid alibis.
Purdie was on parole for aggravated assault at the time, prosecutors said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
