A Massachusetts man will serve at least 15 years behind bars for a November 2014 assault on his friend that ended up killing the man outside his Nashua home.
Thirty-four-year-old Thomas Smith was sentenced Wednesday in Hillsborough County Superior Court to serve between 12 to 20 years for manslaughter and an additional three to six years for witness tampering.
Smith pleaded guilty in April to charges connected to 46-year-old Craig Guillemette's death.
Prosecutors say Smith repeatedly bashed Guillemette in the head and then kicked him down a flight of stairs outside his Worcester Street home on Nov. 29, 2014. Guillemette succumbed to his injuries at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on Dec. 3, 2014.
Smith apologized for the crime in court and said he never meant to kill his friend.
