LONG LAKE — A Long Lake man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2023 murder of his brother on Friday.

Patrick B. Skerrett, 67, was convicted of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies, by a Hamilton County jury in June.

At around 2:40 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2023, New York State Police responded to a residence at 861 Deerland Road in Long Lake for a report of a male deceased from gunshot wounds.

Terrance J. Skerrett, 64, of Lewis, was found dead. Patrick had called the police himself, Acting Hamilton County District Attorney Marsha Purdue said.

Patrick pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree murder but was convicted.

He faced 20 years to life in prison at conviction. At that point, Purdue was not sure what sentence he would get because he had no criminal record.

She said as Hamilton County Court Judge Michael Smrtic levied the maximum term, he called the crime “heinous” and “horrible” and noted the family aspect of the murder.

Terrance’s cause of death was determined to be shotgun and gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen in an autopsy done by pathologist Michael Sikirica, who ruled his death a homicide.

The murder charge was made on the basis of torture, which is not common. Purdue had to prove that pain was inflicted intentionally and that Patrick got gratification out of it.

Purdue said Patrick and Defense Attorney Robert Abdella plan to appeal. Abdella, who represented Patrick, was not available for comment by publication of this article.

Purdue said Patrick maintains that he killed Terrance in self-defense.

She said the trial has been very hard on the family, who lost both brothers in the murder.

Terrance’s children and ex-wife spoke at Friday’s sentencing.

“They all expressed their extreme sorrow at the tragic and useless loss of their father and grandfather,” Purdue said in a statement. “Tiffany Skerrett, Terrance’s oldest daughter fought through tears and anguish to let the defendant hear how he needlessly and selfishly he took away her children’s ‘PaPa Bear,’ how they will never hear his stories or ever receive another one of his bear hugs.”

Purdue said Patrick apologized to the family his actions hurt.

It was an emotional day for everyone, her included. She feels satisfied with the sentence.

Patrick testified that their younger sister told him that she had been allegedly raped by Terrance when they were teenagers.

Purdue said Patrick had Terrance over for dinner and questioned him about the allegation. Patrick alleges that Terrance jumped off the couch and lunged at him. Patrick shot him numerous times with birdshot shells and bullets and said Terrance kept advancing.

To read more about the details of the case, go to tinyurl.com/2s6wzy26.

Purdue said the life without parole sentence is for the first-degree murder conviction. Patrick also was sentenced to three concurrent 15-year prison terms for the criminal possession of a weapon charges — one for each gun used in the crime. He is set to spend the rest of his life in state prison without the chance to be released.

Hamilton County is New York’s least populous county with a little more than 5,000 residents. Between this murder in December and another family-related Long Lake murder in August of that year, the county had the highest murder rate in New York in 2023, according to data from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

This gave the sparse county a murder rate per 100,000 residents four times higher than the second-highest county, the Bronx, which had 121 murders that year.

Before 2023, Purdue said the last murder trial in Hamilton County was the serial killer Robert Garrow in the early-1970s.

“I hope that this is my last murder trial,” she said.