Laurie Bellesheim with her dog Taco and accused murderer, Evan Rosenthal. {Gofundme, BSO}
A Margate man who used a wooden cutting board to bludgeon his neighbor to death was sentenced Friday to 25 years in state prison.
Evan Rosenthal, 51, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder in the April 2022 killing of Laurie Bellesheim, a 69-year-old grandmother and breast cancer survivor who was Rosenthal’s neighbor in the Viewpointe Condominium in Margate.
Rosenthal left Bellesheim face down in a pool of blood, her head, face, and ears massively injured from the beating he inflicted, police said.
Bellesheim, who lived with her beloved chihuahua, Taco, left behind her devastated family, including a son and granddaughter. She lived in South Florida for over 20 years.
Rosenthal’s attorneys said he suffered from serious mental illness throughout his life, had stopped taking his medication, and drank alcohol before murdering Bellesheim. Rosenthal said he had no memory of the killing, according to court papers.
Rosenthal’s sentence requires that his 25-year prison term be followed by life on mental health probation, with no use of alcohol, and a requirement that he enter a residential treatment program after his imprisonment.
According to the Broward State Attorney’s Office, the judge in the case denied the defense’s motion for a lesser sentence.
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