Perth Amboy man to serve 30 years in prison for 2010 murder of Old Bridge woman

Newark Star-Ledger ^ | 4/21/2-14 updated 4/22/2014 | Sue Epstein

[heartwood]

Before sentencing Robert Hayes today to 30 years in prison for the murder of an Old Bridge woman, Superior Court Judge Michael Toto reminded the Perth Amboy man what he told an investigator when asked if he was all evil or "is there any good in you?"

"You said, ‘There’s no good in me,’ " Toto quoted from a statement Hayes gave to authorities after his arrest in 2010.

"You’ve shown little or no remorse during this entire time and have demonstrated nothing but contempt for the rule of law and the life of the victim," the judge said.

Hayes, 36, admitted in February that he broke into the home of 52-year-old Petra Rohrbaugh, "strangled her until she was dead," then set her and her bed on fire.

Hayes said nothing when given the chance to speak before sentencing, but when the hearing was almost over, he told the judge, "You said I show no remorse. I do have remorse, but nobody wants to hear what I have to say."

Rohrbaugh’s daughter, Annika Werner, who found her mother’s body the morning of April 8, 2010, did not speak at the hearing, and explained why afterward.

"I decided not to give an impact statement because of my fear for my family when he gets out," Werner said, adding she wished he were spending the rest of his life behind bars.

- Hayes also pleaded guilty in February to burglary, aggravated arson and desecration of human remains. As part of the plea recommendation, Toto ran sentences for those crimes concurrent to the 30-year murder term.

[heartwood]

Mrs. Rohrbach did not want to have sex with this man. He harassed her, frightened her, and then sexually assaulted and murdered her and burned her body. Mid-trial, with extremely strong evidence against him, he was allowed to plead guilty and have sentences run concurrently. The sexual assault charges were dropped.

Thirty years is not enough. The article doesn't spell out if he's eligible for parole but an earlier article said the state would ask for no parole. This is my state. How can it let this man ever walk free? Thirty years is nowhere near enough.

[Candor7]

Hanging judge needed?

[Michael.SF.]

I wonder what he might have gotten if he killed a Young Bridge woman.

[MeshugeMikey]

I had the saeme sort of response to the carefully crafted headline..

another Amish Choir Boy.....Falsely accused ...and headed for stoney lonesome ....

this is all just so racess

[liberalh8ter]

His victim, Petra Rohrbach.

[Democrat_media]

Black males are estimated to rape between 14,000 to as high as 38,000 white females every year over the past 30 years (no way to find out exact rape figures as the federal gov’t refuses to release this information). a large percentage of these are tortured and murdered. the news media hides this. many of these are home invasions.

http://theinjusticefile.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

i’ve told many liberal women to get a gun . and they get mad at me .

I'm not being racist just pointing out the media injustice and agenda

[GBA]

Thirty years is nowhere near enough.

Didn't the justice system used to purposefully kill people who are found guilty of purposefully killing other people?

When/Why did that change?

This one will be turned loose on an unsuspecting society before his thirty are up and what sort of human will he be then? How will he make up for lost time?

[Eagles6]

Why the he!! Would they accept a plea and give a light sentence?

[octex]

I guess the NJ socialists in power do not permit a sentence of death in cases of horrible crimes like this one.

Crime was committed in 2010, so proper justice would have him executed no later than 2015 after his appeals.