April 3, 2001
(PROVIDENCE, R.I.) – A Rhode Island man has been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the murder of his third wife and one of her co-workers at a Woonsocket Burger King.
At his sentencing Monday, Ronald Harnois continued to maintain his innocence of the murder of Tammy Petrin, 24, and Jenner H. Villeda, 21. He claimed that he understood the pain of the victims’ families because of his own losses.
Petrin’s father, Villeda’s brother and Harnois’ own daughter testified at the hearing, all calling for a long prison term.
Prosecutors said that Petrin was gunned down because she had threatened to testify against her husband in his attempt to kill his second wife with a bomb, while Villeda was killed simply because he was there. Harnois was legally married to Joanne Harnois when he married a third time.
Harnois is already serving a 20-year term for the attempted murder.