Man Gets Life for Hiring Hit Man

By Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald

Jun. 28–A Waltham man’s “cowardly and cold” decision to hire a hit man to kill his estranged wife’s boyfriend has landed him in prison for life, a judge ruled yesterday.

James Brescia, 46, who his attorney said suffered a stroke after taking the stand in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn last week, was sentenced in court yesterday.

Judge Wendie Gershengorn sent Brescia away for life without parole and handed down an 18-to-20-year sentence, to be served concurrently, for conspiracy for hiring a hit man for $10,000 to murder Edward Schiller, 39, of Sudbury.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone Jr. told the Herald yesterday even though Brescia didn’t commit the murder, he’ll never be a free man again.

“Although James Brescia didn’t pull the trigger . . . he’s accountable under the law,” said Leone, who stressed a conspiracy charge is a powerful legal tool.

Carl Schiller, the victim’s only sibling, called Brescia a “cowardly and cold” killer who taught his family how to hate.

“Because of his cowardly, selfish decision to have my brother murdered I now know what it is to hate,” wrote Schiller on a blog devoted to his brother.

“Ed loved life and he loved so many people in his life,” his brother writes at www.edschiller.com. “He loved to ride his motorcycle . . . and he loved the music of the Grateful Dead.”

Scott Foxworth, the alleged hitman accused in the Jan. 13, 2006, murder in a Newton parking garage, is set to go on trial in October.

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