ALLEGAN, Mich. — An Allegan County man will spend decades, possibly the rest of his life, behind bars for his grandfather's death.
A circuit court judge sentenced Cory Nethery Friday to 60 to 100 years in prison. Nethery pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree vulnerable adult abuse, according to court records.
FOX 17 first brought you William Fitzhugh's story in February 2022 when our own Julie Dunmire saw the condition of his Pullman, Michigan home firsthand.
The house was filthy— with feces mounting in the bathroom and a septic system that had not worked for years.
William's son, Steve Fitzhugh says his father was treated even worse.
READ MORE: 82-year-old’s death ruled homicide after years of reported abuse
William died on December 12, 2021. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, citing "complications of multiple injuries, malnourishment and neglect."
In court Friday morning, Honorable Margaret Zuzich Bakker, called this a textbook case of abuse.
"As odd as it may sound, it would have been more humane if you had just shot him dead. You didn't do that. You went through years and times of abuse that were abhorrent," Judge Bakker said.
Nethery, along with another one of William's grandsons— Christopher Fitzhugh, were charged with his murder. Both are accused of beating and abusing William while living with him.
"Repeated assaults, repeated broken bones, threats, financial loss, loss of dignity, lying in his own excrement when he was found, malnourishment— It's hard to take in, just to read it. I can't even imagine what it was like to experience it," Judge Bakker said.
Nethery's attorney asked the judge to lean toward the lower end of sentencing guidelines during Friday's hearing, citing a drug addiction as the root cause of Nethery's actions.
"I do not know how it's possible to negate a pattern of behavior that this defendant exhibited over a significant period of time— to attribute that to a poor childhood or an addiction, perhaps his behavior, it's unspeakable," Judge Bakker responded to the request.
Instead, Nethery's 60-to-100-year sentence is above the sentencing guidelines.
"God today served what he got coming for him. It took this long. Without Julie getting involved, this would have gotten brushed under the table," Steve Fitzhugh said.
He considers his father's death a systemic failure because neither law enforcement nor the state's department of Adult Protective Services stepped in amid years of reports.
READ MORE: 6 months prior to homicide death, APS closed case with no investigation
Meanwhile, the criminal case against William's other grandson, Christopher Fitzhugh, is still working its way through the court system.
