Daniel McAnaspie’s family want his killers to “rot in hell”, the Central Criminal Court heard on Monday.
Mr McAnaspie was in the care of the HSE at the time of his death, with both his parents having died previously.
His sister Nikita McAnaspie told a sentence hearing for the man convicted of his murder that Daniel’s death had made their lives meaningless, adding: “We hate the people who did this.”
Richard Dekker (30), from Blanchardstown in Dublin, was found guilty last month of the murder of 17-year-old Daniel McAnaspie at Tolka Valley Park on February 26th, 2010.
The teenager’s decomposed body was found almost three months later in a farmer’s drain about 30km from where he had been killed. He had been stabbed multiple times.
Trevor Noone (28), also from Blanchardstown , pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his part in Daniel's death.
At the sentence hearing for Dekker, Nikita McAnaspie spoke on behalf of her family. She said Dekker and Noone had taken their “beloved Daniel from us in the most tragic circumstances”.
When they heard he was missing, in February 2010, they immediately feared the worst and searched fields, parks and rivers hoping that he would return alive and well.
“While we searched, the people who killed him watched us,” she said.
When it was found, the teenager’s body was so badly decomposed the family could not see him, and his coffin was closed at his funeral. She said he was a child who did not deserve to be murdered. “We hope they rot in hell,” she said.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced Dekker to life imprisonment, the mandatory term for murder. He will be given credit for time already served.
Justice McCarthy adjourned sentencing Noone until April 24th.