Tragedy’s Final Chapter Is a Life Sentence : Murder: Killer of estranged wife and her lover is sentenced during an emotional courtroom scene in which some spectators cheered and others wept.

A Huntington Beach man was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for murdering his estranged wife and her lover in a case that has devastated three families and stripped a child of her parents.

During an emotional sentencing hearing attended by more than 40 friends and relatives of the victims, many wept and some even cheered when Gary Beaudoin, 32, was given the maximum prison sentence for the Sept. 10, 1992, murders of Patricia Beaudoin, 22, and Mark Forshee, 23, also of Huntington Beach.

Several family members spoke during the court session, recalling how the murders have forever changed their lives. Mattheson Smith of Huntington Beach, the slain woman’s father, also voiced his grief and guilt.

“I believe fathers feel they should be there to protect their families, their daughters,” Smith told the judge, struggling to keep his voice steady. “Now I have to live with the guilt of not being there when she needed me most.”

At the time of the murders, Gary and Patricia Beaudoin were the parents of a toddler, Kayla, but were in the process of separating and heading toward divorce. Prosecutors depicted the murders as a cold-blooded attack by a man who refused to let go. Defense attorneys, however, said Gary Beaudoin was driven by despair and rage when he discovered his wife was cheating on him.

The trial became an intimate portrait of a crumbling marriage, and proved to be emotionally draining for jurors, many of whom were moved to tears during their weeklong deliberations and even while their verdicts were being read last December.

On Friday, the Beaudoin, Smith and Forshee families were left struggling to get past their losses. Kayla, 2, is being raised by her mother’s family and is still too young to understand it all, Smith said.

Susan Forshee, the sister of the victim, told the court that she lost her best friend when her brother was murdered.

“Nothing means anything to us anymore,” she said through her tears.

On the night of the murders, Gary Beaudoin was returning home when he saw his wife and Forshee moving out her belongings. He began following the pair. When Forshee pulled over at Bolsa Chica Street in Huntington Beach, Gary Beaudoin approached the truck, carrying a gun.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans told jurors that Patricia Beaudoin and Forshee were shot in the head and upper body, and probably never knew what hit them.

But Deputy Public Defender Leonard Gumlia told jurors that Gary Beaudoin fired in rage when Forshee laughed in his face.

Many relatives said Friday they feel Beaudoin has tried to blame the victims.

But defense attorney Jack M. Earley, who represented Beaudoin at his sentencing, said that was never his client’s intent.

“He is not saying these are bad or evil people who deserved to die,” Earley said during the hearing. He later read from a statement written by Beaudoin.

“Unfortunately, there is no remorse or words to change the results of my actions,” his statement read. “I loved my wife and daughter very much and the possibility of losing both of them was emotionally devastating.”

Jerry Beaudoin, Gary’s father, was hoping for a lenient sentence.

“But no matter what the sentence, no one comes out a winner here at all,” Jerry Beaudoin said outside court, shaking his head. “This case is sad for everyone, all around.”