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Somers Rallies Behind Prouty Family As Murderer Goes To Parole Board

SOMERS, N.Y. – Terry Losicco, the Lincoln Hall resident who brutally attacked an elderly Somers couple in 1980, killing one and leaving the other permanently helpless, is scheduled to appear before the New York State Parole Board this month.

Somers' Eleanor and Norman Prouty, pictured here with their five children in 1960, were brutally attacked by Terry Losicco in 1980.

Somers' Eleanor and Norman Prouty, pictured here with their five children in 1960, were brutally attacked by Terry Losicco in 1980.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Brooks S. Prouty
This photo of Somers' Eleanor and Norman Prouty was taken in 1980, the year they were brutally attacked by Terry Losicco.

This photo of Somers' Eleanor and Norman Prouty was taken in 1980, the year they were brutally attacked by Terry Losicco.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Brooks S. Prouty

Losicco was 16 when he persuaded a fellow resident to help him break into the home of Eleanor and Norman Prouty, where he expected to find a large sum of money. Eleanor Prouty, 67, was beaten to death and sodomized. Norman Prouty, who used a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis, was badly beaten and survived but lived the rest of his life in a nursing home.

At the trial, Judge Angelo Ingrassia said he could not recall a more brutal or vicious crime. He sentenced Losicco to a minimum of 27 years in prison but recommended life without parole.

When longtime Somers friends and neighbors learned recently that the victims’ grandson, Brooks S. Prouty, was filing a Victims’ Impact Statement before the hearing with the New York State Parole Board, “the town made it a common cause,” said Prouty.

“It started as a private correspondence between me and the Parole Board, but it ended up becoming a public dialogue on Facebook. Organizing a petition was a collective decision and the fact that the petition came out of the public forum is very powerful.

“It’s not just me, alone, and it is a healing process. It restores a sense of agency to the whole town. We’re taking action against something that was done to us,” said Prouty.

Among the dozens of people participating in the Facebook dialogue, Somers resident Lisa Bardo’s statement was typical. She said: “I spoke with the [Parole] Board today and they will be be happy to accept anything they feel will help them form an opinion with a case that is now more than 30 years old. But it is Yesterday in our minds.”

After the tragedy, the family moved away from Somers. “It was too painful to stay,” said Prouty, who was 15 at the time. “When you’re robbed as we were, you’re stripped of a lot of things, like your sense of power and agency. You’re left with a horrible sense of emptiness. It was a catastrophic shock.”

In his letter to the parole board, Prouty said the attack “destroyed my grandfather,” who died a lonely and broken man. The entire family was permanently affected, he said.

“With this petition, the public is sending a strong message that parole in this case is both abhorrent and repugnant,” Prouty said. “I’m not calling for Losicco’s head or trying to revive capital punishment. But he should serve life without parole.”

To sign the petition, click here.

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