Background: Bruce Maiben appears in Essex County court in Salem, Massachusetts (WBZ/YouTube). Inset: Sherell Pringle (Riley-Antoine Funeral Home).
A Massachusetts man is going away for the rest of his life for killing his girlfriend while on a night out and then dumping her body in a marsh.
Bruce Maiben, 48, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Essex County District Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday. The sentencing came after a jury found him guilty of the first-degree murder of 40-year-old Sherell Pringle.
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It was Dec. 19, 2021, and Pringle's family had not heard from her after she spent the night with her boyfriend. They "immediately expressed concern," authorities recounted. Two days later, her body was found in a marsh off of Route 107 in Saugus, which is about 11 miles north of Boston.
Pringle had been stabbed 217 times, according to Pringle's mother, Pearl Garner, resulting in a closed-casket funeral. Family and friends of Pringle said they were the ones to find her body, using technology to find out where her phone was, per Boston NBC affiliate WBTS.
"What hurts the most is, I told these cops from the jump to locate Bruce Maiben," Pringle's son, Jahmani Larionne, said after Pringle's body was found. "I told them day one, 'You need to locate Bruce Maiben. He lives in Lynn. You need to ping his phone and find him.'"
Maiben was arrested and arraigned in Lynn District Court on Dec. 23, 2021, two days before Christmas. A grand jury indictment moved the case to Superior Court. Maiben was originally charged with larceny over $1,200, tampering with evidence, and obstruction; then he was charged with murdering Pringle.
He pleaded not guilty, and the case moved forward.
The victim's family was present throughout the case, showing up in court by the dozens to watch the trial proceedings against Maiben, per video from local CBS affiliate WBZ.
As her daughter's killer was sentenced, Garner addressed him directly. "You don't deserve to be walking here. You will get what you deserve because God don't like ugly," she said, per local Fox affiliate WFXT. "You're scum… I hope you rot in hell for what you did."
Prosecutors suggested Pringle was planning to break up with Maiben after he reportedly broke into her home and threatened her with a knife after an argument. According to a court filing reviewed by Boston.com, Pringle sent one friend a text message shortly before she died saying she was "done with [Maiben]."
Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker hopes the conviction and sentencing bring them some semblance of peace.
"This verdict and subsequent sentence will ensure that the defendant will be held accountable for his senseless and atrocious conduct," Tucker said. "Our hope is that the family and friends of Sherell Pringle can find some comfort in this outcome."
Pringle's obituary remembers her as a "natural-born leader" who was "very ambitious." She leaves behind her son and "a boatload of relatives."
