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Judge refuses to cut life sentence for Mass. man convicted of killing 3

Daniel LaPlante’s sentence was up for reconsideration because recent court rulings determined that juveniles can’t be sentenced to life without parole

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Daniel LaPlante listens to his lawyer Ryan Schiff at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Mass., Wednesday, March 22, 2017.

John Love/The Lowell Sun via AP, Pool

Associated Press

WOBURN, Mass. — A Massachusetts man convicted of killing a pregnant woman and her two children 30 years ago has lost his bid for a shorter sentence.

Daniel LaPlante was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole in the 1987 deaths of 33-year-old Priscilla Gustafson, 7-year-old Abigail and 5-year-old William in Townsend. He was then 17.

His sentence was up for reconsideration because recent court rulings determined that juveniles can’t be sentenced to life without parole.

LaPlante was eligible for parole after 15 years for each conviction and he asked that two of his sentences run together, which would have made him eligible for parole this year.

But the judge ruled Thursday he should serve at least 45 years for the crimes so must stay in prison at least another 15 years.