Joanne Stathis of Teaneck was in no forgiving mood as she addressed the man who was convicted of killing her daughter.
“We all wish we could…take a leap across the room,” she told Hugues Francois on Tuesday during an emotional sentencing in Superior Court in Hackensack. “You can imagine what we would like to do to you – but we can’t tell you.”
Francois, 36, sat motionless as he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He must serve nearly 32 years before being eligible for parole.
More than a dozen family members and friends of Thalia Stathis attended the sentencing, some of them holding up pictures of the 28-year-old woman. None leapt across the room, but they made sure their words did.
“You are a sub-human degenerate who represents evil in every sense of the word,” Joanne Stathis said to Francois.
She described her daughter as a caring woman with a magnetic personality, a beloved waitress at a Hackensack diner where she was so popular that many patrons specifically asked for her.
She earned $200 a day – working 15 hours a day, often seven days a week – to support herself and her live-in boyfriend, Francois.
“She offered you a roof over your head, food in your mouth, clothes on your back, shoes on your feet,” Joanne Stathis said. “You were too worthless to do anything for yourself.”
Prosecutors said during Francois’ trial that Thalia Stathis was about to break up with Francois when she went missing in September 2007. They arrested Francois and charged him with her murder, and found Thalia Stathis’ body on the side of a New York highway 10 months later.
Prosecutors said Francois fatally beat Thalia Stathis at their Cliffside Park apartment before disposing of her body.
“You murdered my daughter, put her in a bag in the trunk of your car, that she paid for, and threw her out on a highway like a piece of garbage,” Joanne Stathis said. “Only a vicious, cruel creature could commit such an act and deny it thinking you would get away with it.
Francois spoke briefly when he was given the opportunity.
“It’s not fair,” he said. “It’s not a fair trial. That’s all I have to say.”
His attorney Robert Kalisch asked Superior Court Judge Harry G. Carroll not to impose a consecutive term. Carroll did not agree, citing Francois’ criminal history.
Francois has seven juvenile offenses on his record, and was convicted of manslaughter 15 years ago. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl, and was a registered sex offender when he was arrested for the murder of Thalia Stathis.
“He has now killed twice, and I am firmly convinced that he poses a substantial threat to society,” Carroll said.
Thalia Stathis’ brother, Spiros Stathis, also had some strong words for Francois.
“Stay healthy, stay alive, and start counting the minutes, hours, days, and years you’re going to spend in your cage,” he said. “The world as you know it will change, and you will be the same pathetic loser that you are today, only much, much older.
“Never forget that you killed the last woman that will ever have touched you,” he said. “So start counting, tough guy.”
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Wayne Mello said he will not be around when Francois completes his term. But his successors will make sure Francois will remain behind bars, he said.
“There will be a prosecutor, perhaps not yet born,” he said. “One day, that prosecutor will tell the story of this evildoer…and will want to keep the door closed.”
Mello said Francois is facing two other charges of failing to register as a sex offender.
“I absolutely will try those cases,” he said.
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