Justin Moore maintains innocence: 'I am honestly not guilty'
BY NATE TAYLOR
NateTaylor@coloradoan.com
Justin Levi Moore will spend up to 72 years in prison for the May 2008 shooting death of his live-in girlfriend, Valerie Gendernalik.
Even as Judge David Williams sentenced him Thursday, Moore maintained Gendernalik's death was an accident. A Larimer County jury in November convicted Moore, 30, of second-degree murder for the death of Gendernalik, a 25-year-old CSU graduate.
Despite emotional statements from Gendernalik's parents and friends, Moore maintained his innocence.
"I am a human being and I am imperfect. I am a sinner. I am guilty of sins in my past, and I am guilty of crimes in my past and mistakes I made as a young man. I pleaded guilty to the crimes that I was guilty of," Moore said referring to his criminal history that includes multiple felony convictions.
"This is the first trial that I've been to in my extensive, as (prosecutors) put it, criminal history ... this is the first time I have disputed any act because I am honestly not guilty.”
Taking into account Moore’s prior felony convictions, Williams ruled Moore was a habitual criminal offender and was bound by state law to impose the 72-year sentence. He will be eligible for parole before serving the entire 72 years.
Had Moore not been ruled a habitual offender, he would have faced between 16 and 48 years in prison.
Larry and Larisa Gendernalik of Colorado Springs detailed the difficulty they were having coping with the loss of their daughter.
Their son, also a recent Colorado State University graduate, did not speak at Moore’s sentencing.
The Gendernaliks and Moore described Valerie Gendernalik as someone who if you knew her, you were her friend and loved her.
Her father spoke extensively about sleepless nights and haunting thoughts he and his family have endured since the murder.
“It wasn’t until I saw everything in the trial that I realized he did go out and acquire a gun and within weeks he put that gun to my daughter’s head and fired,” Larry Gendernalik said. “And I guess really that was when I finally knew that Valerie was gone.”
Referencing the Russian novel “Crime and Punish-ment,” Larisa Gendernalik, who left the Soviet Union for the United States in the late 1970s, said she’s put much thought into whether Moore has experienced any personal torment.
“We all know the story of (Fyodor) Dostoevsky where he was punished by himself,” she said. “I watched Justin throughout the case and throughout the 18 months here in this courtroom. I truly believe he did not feel any punishment in his own mind.”
Williams wished Moore luck with the rest of his life after acknowledging only Moore really knows what
happened the morning Gendernalik died.
Evidence presented at trial showed the couple had been out drinking with friends in Old Town hours before Gendernalik was shot in the head at close range.
Jurors heard testimony about the couple’s strained relationship in the weeks leading up to the shooting, Gendernalik’s phone call to her ex-boyfriend the night she died and of allegations of domestic violence from two of Moore’s ex-girlfriends.
Moore claimed he and Gendernalik were toying with the weapon when it went off.
Jurors needed just 3½ hours to return their guilty verdict.
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