It only took the jury a couple of hours to decide that 54-year-old Cortlandt businessman Robert Sepe Sr. intentionally murdered his fiancee, Janette Carlucci, when he hit her a dozen of more times with a metal baseball bat in the home they shared. But the collateral damage that a killing causes lasts so much longer.

Some post-verdict thoughts:

Sepe’s face was a total blank when the jury forewoman said “guilty” when asked for the panel’s decision on the charge of second-degree murder. His three children also showed little emotion, other than maybe mild surprise. As Sepe was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he stared wide-eyed at his oldest son, Robert Jr., who was sitting with his siblings in the front row. I was sitting behind them, so I wasn’t able to tell what, if any reaction they gave their dad.

On the other side of the courtroom, the victim’s ex-husband, Anthony Carlucci, could barely hold in his emotion at the guilty verdict. He clasped his hands and with a tight smile, put his arm around his ex mother-in-law as other members of the family wept openly. Carlucci has been a ROCK for his ex-wife’s family, especially his teenaged daughter, Candice, who sat through the entire trial and managed to keep it together the entire time.

Speaking of Candice, not only will she be going to college (Penn State) in the fall, she’ll be going to her prom today. Her dad was saying how these touchstone moments—the prom, first day of college, etc.—will be, at best, bittersweet because her mom, who was just 41 when she was killed, won’t be there to share them with her. This is the collateral damage I’m talking about, and it’s a life sentence for all involved.