No-parole sentences again for men in sub shop murder

MOUNT CLEMENS (AP) - A judge again ordered no-parole sentences Tuesday for two men convicted of abducting a customer from a suburban Detroit sandwich shop, robbing him and killing him. The disappearance of Matt Landry in 2009 shocked the public because of the random, brazen nature of the crime. Ihab Masalmani and Robert Taylor were sentenced to life in prison, but they were granted a new hearing because the U.S. Supreme Court said convicted killers under 18 can't automatically be given a no-parole punishment. After hearing evidence about their troubled childhoods and other issues, Macomb County Judge Diane Druzinski said a no-parole sentence still fits the crime. She said there's little chance that Masalmani, now 23, and Taylor, 22, can be rehabilitated and released. Landry, 21, of Chesterfield Township was abducted from a sub shop parking lot in Eastpointe, near Detroit. Evidence showed they withdrew money from his bank account, bought drugs and clothes and shot the victim in the head in a burned-out Detroit house. Masalmani "had numerous opportunities to abandon his plan, and instead drove with his co-defendant and Matthew Landry around town for hours before killing Landry in cold blood," the judge said. The second sentencing phase lasted months and forced Landry's family to relive the tragedy. "That's my life sentence. ... When you lose a child, there is no such thing as closure," Landry's mother, Doreen Landry, said outside of court. Published: Thu, Jan 08, 2015