ST. MARY’S TODAY

LEXINGTON PARK --- Bryan Morris, 28, was Tuesday relieved that the two accused who killed a single mom have been brought to justice.

“She did not deserve this,” Morris, a server at the Lone Star Steak House & Saloon told ST. MARY’S TODAY on Tuesday, on the eve of the first death anniversary of Janet Reginato, 40, who was brutally murdered at the restaurant exactly one year ago. “She was close to me,” Morris said of the slain restaurant manager.

Richard Russell Moore Jr., 22, was sentenced on March 13 for life in the same case and on Monday Judge Clarke Raley denied Moore’s request to reconsider the life sentence on grounds that he had “developmental and psychological problems.” Moore was found guilty of first degree murder on November 17, 2005.

A second accused, Gary Dean Hosterman, 16, of 45535 Mariann Ct., Great Mills on Monday pleaded guilty to second degree with words “willingly and of deliberately premeditated” diluted to “felonious” as part of a plea bargain. Hosterman was indicted for first degree murder on February 22 though two charges were earlier dismissed on March 10.

Hosterman lived just one-fifth of a mile or few minutes walk from Reginato’s home, 45642 Jillian Ct., Great Mills.

Before moving to St. Mary’s, Moore lived in Middle River and was wanted for second degree assault and fourth degree sex offense at the Baltimore County District Court.

Many of the victim’s relatives and close friends had written to Judge Raley not to spare the killers as they said the killers never showed any remorse.

A letter from Mary Grube, a friend and co-worker of the Reginato, wrote a moving letter to Judge Raley, court records show.

She said on the morning of Reginato’s death she received a call from her son Nick at 5am in the morning informing her that his mom had not returned from work.

Grube said she agreed to his request to help find his mom and called the police. “Once the police arrived at the Lone Star, she let them in the building and went in with them, as one officer went one way the other officer and she went towards the back office to turn on the lights.

“As we reached half way towards the office, I found Janet lying face down on the floor of the office shot in the back,” Grube said. “Finding your friend murdered if that is not enough, but finding them murdered in a place where you spend at least 50 hours a week working together changes your life.”

As she did not feel safe or happy at the job, she resigned from Lone Star shortly after Reginato’s death and had a hard time finding another fulltime job.

She said Janet was helping Moore to settle down and let him in into his home but when she learnt he was having trouble with the law she decided to distance herself, especially out of concern of her son’s upbringing. “The night before she was murdered was the night she had decided to to ask him to leave. The next night Richard (Moore) decided to take her life,” she said.

She likened Moore to a thankless beast.

“My aunt Janet was a resilient fighter, for not only herself but for anyone who was the underdog,” Diana Cristiano, 17, the victim’s niece wrote to Judge Raley. “She constantly lived her life for my cousin, her son, Nicholas.”

“My father victimized her when she was younger,” Cristiano told the judge. “When I was younger he victimized me too.” But she said with the support of Reginato she pressed charges against her dad and defeated the shame.

“When I thought I couldn’t go on she helped me believe in myself and try for tomorrow,” said Cristiano.

A sister of the victim remembered her as a very special person.

“Even when she was angry at something, she would say something like ‘I’m really pissed’ and then immediately say, ‘now that I said that I’m O.K., I feel better already, can I get you something’,” said Catherine Cristiano, who remembered her sister as someone who loved to make people laugh.

Catherine Cristiano told Judge Raley even when her sister really didn’t have much to give, she would still find a way to help others. “Even if it meant that she would have to give her shirt off her back, she would gladly do it and say something like it’s O.K., I still have my bra to wear, enjoy it.” She said it was because of this nature of the victim that when she opened her home and heart to Moore to help him get back on his feet, family members didn’t see it something out of the ordinary.

“Moore took full advantage of her loving kindness,” the sister said. She said Moore had lost his job in October of 2004, he stayed on her couch for five months “ate her food, watched her TV, played video games and stole from her bank account instead of trying to get a job while she struggled to take care of paying bills for her son Nicky and herself.”

She said she is haunted by the notion of her being brutalized, suffering from unbearable pain and then left to die in the dark on the cold floor in the closet sized back room of the restaurant, knowing that when she was finally found it would be too late.

Donald Drummond, an uncle of the victim described Reginato as an upbeat, hardworking person. “She was never discouraged when problems came her way, tomorrow was always a new day,” he said. “it was not an easy life for her raising her son alone, but she was doing her best to raise Nicholas as a kind and responsible.”

Drummond said of the murder. “He viciously beat and ultimately shot Janet without any thought of consequences to himself or to the human being he was killing.”

Judge Karen Abrams had denied the case of Moore’s accomplice in the murder, Hosterman, to a juvenile court last year.

“He was fifteen years old at the age that this allegedly occurred and to me that doesn’t have the most significance because he could have been 14, he could have been 16 or 17, the age doesn’t make that much difference,” court proceeding transcripts show.

She said Hosterman was not diagnosed as bipolar. “That there was depression, that there was a need for lithium, but, but nothing so severe, certainly nothing physical, but as far as mental, nothing so severe that it would prevent Gary from making rational decisions and knowing what he was doing and going through life as we all should do.”

She said St. Mary’s probably had one of the best staffs of juvenile services department and that she sees them in juvenile court all the time. “They get in trouble themselves with the State because they give kids break after break and only bring them back for violations if it’s just gotten so serious that they can’t do anymore.”

She said Hosterman was in counseling at Walden “and all I see is negative reports. All I see is attitude problem. A continuation of what I see from school. He would listen if he chose to listen to you. He would study if he chose to.” She said Hosterman could have taken advantage of a rehab program but she said she was not convinced he was amenable to make any commitment to the treatment that was offered.

She regretted that Hosterman continued to use drugs while under probation in Idaho and in St. Mary’s.

“You know how much can you thumb your nose at society, how much can you thumb your nose at the system, but to continue to show no remorse for anything that’s happened before.”

The judge agreed with Theodore Weiner that in a juvenile system, Hosterman would go to a program for nine months at the most and return. “Four months didn’t do much good before, how could four months do any good now,” the judge asked. She said a juvenile system would not serve the purpose of public safety as Hosterman would not care about the treatment.

She had said it was sad but true that resources were limited in the adult system, but said unless Hosterman was ready to take some responsibility for his actions, neither system is going to do any good.

“Stuff happen,” he said Morris, not knowing what to say how others may avoid such tragedies. “I do not know what the deal was or whether drugs were involved.”