Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Death Of Groton Sailor

Eduardo Rosario, 38, was sentenced in the death of Michael Halpert on Monday.

A New London Superior Court judge sentenced Eduardo Rosario to 10 years in prison Monday for killing a sailor stationed at the Groton submarine base.

Eduardo Rosario, 38, was sentenced to 20 years for first-degree manslaughter and 5 years for second-degree assault in the death of Michael Halpert, who died after a fight outside a Preston bar in 2009.

Judge Patrick J. Clifford suspended the sentence after ten years, which means Rosario will spend ten years in jail.

Rosario told Halpert’s family he was sorry and didn’t meant to hurt him.

“I live with Michael’s loss every day of my life,” Rosario said, his voice cracking several times as he spoke in court. “Mrs. Halpert, I never meant to hurt your baby.”

Halpert’s mother, Maxine Gilson, told the court her life has been destroyed by the loss of her only child. Her family and friends wept in the courtroom as she said she feels like she’s dying, and often wishes she would die to relieve her pain.

“I’ve been robbed of my family,” she said. “Michael was my family.”

Rosario pleaded guilty on Oct. 6 to manslaughter and assault in Halpert’s death, but later asked to withdraw that plea. His request was denied.

Rosario told the court sailors confronted him inside David’s Café and accused him of stealing $15, and he ran out of the bar, then hit Halpert and saw him fall backward. Rosario said he remembers the incident clearly.

“I just want to say Michael, I’m sorry. Because it wasn’t intentional,” Rosario said. His family portrayed him in letters as a caring father who worked hard and acted in self defense.

But Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Narducci said that during the confrontation over money, Rosario punched a Navy man inside the bar, fracturing his jaw in three places before going outside.

Narducci said Halpert then confronted Rosario about injuring a fellow sailor, and Rosario punched him, causing him to fall backward and hit the concrete so hard it fractured his skull and caused his death.

Gilson described driving three hours to Connecticut to find her son, who had never spent a day in the hospital, in intensive care. She said she prayed for six days as she dealt with doctors, nurses, organ donor representatives, news media and made burial arrangements. Halpert died six days after the fight.

“I’ve never felt so helpless and overwhelmed with complete devastation,” she said.

Gilson said she’s since suffered pain, brain fog, uncontrollable crying and the sense that nothing matters. “If not for my husband, I would have been buried in a box next to my son,” she said.