The emotional family of two shooting victims watched as a Bowling Green man who earlier pleaded guilty was sentenced today on charges of wanton murder and second-degree assault.

Riccardo Vettraino, 35, entered a guilty plea in Warren Circuit Court to the Oct. 30, 1995, murder of Julie Speakman and shooting her husband, John.

Vettraino entered the home of Julie and John Speakman brandishing a weapon and repeatedly shot both, said Chris Cohron, commonwealth’s attorney for Warren County.

Vettraino acknowledged that was true.

Vettraino received a 22-year prison sentence and will be eligible for parole after 11 years. He has already served more than nine years in prison and is being credited for time served.

Cohron said previously that he was confident the parole board would not parole Vettraino and that he would serve the entire sentence.

The case would have been a retrial of Vettraino’s 1996 conviction for the shootings. The retrial had been ordered by former Warren Circuit Judge John Minton, who is now a Kentucky Supreme Court justice.

Minton ordered the retrial in 2003 because Kentucky State Police failed to tell the defense about a gun belonging to John Speakman that was found in the house. Minton ruled that that evidence might have bolstered Vettraino’s argument that he acted in self-defense. The commonwealth appealed Minton’s ruling, but the Court of Appeals upheld it in 2004.

Vettraino’s attorney, David Broderick, requested probation for his client due to the amount of time he has already served in prison.

&#8220Prior to this incident, which he has taken responsibility for, Riccardo had no criminal history, with the exception of a few traffic violations in the early 1990s,” Broderick said.

There was no prior violent behavior in Vettraino’s past, Broderick said.

Cohron did not say anything about his objection to probation but allowed Johnny Linhart, the only child of John Speakman, to read a letter she had written.

&#8220Julie Speakman was a person who had never hurt anybody,” Linhart said. &#8220She was all about doing something for somebody else.”

She was a great friend, stepmother, daughter, relative to her family and companion to &#8220my father,” Linhart said.

All that changed the October night when Julie Speakman was killed, she said.

&#8220The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life was telling my father that Julie had been killed while he was in the hospital with his injuries from when you shot him,” Linhart said. &#8220John couldn’t even attend Julie’s funeral because of his injures.”

Linhart said her father still has limited use of one of his hands and stomach issues because of the shooting.

&#8220There are no words in the English language to describe you other than murderer and liar,” she said. &#8220You will be judged by God when you die and go before him.”

Grise said that Vettraino was ineligible for probation in this case, but he added that allowing probation in this case would undermine the seriousness of the charges against Vettraino.