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A Delaware County man was sentenced to state prison for killing and dismembering his ex-girlfriend

Nicholas Scurria apologized for killing Deborah Sager during an argument, saying he deeply regretted his actions.

Investigators were called to Nicholas Scurria's apartment in February 2022 after a concerned neighbor called police. There, they found the 33-year-old dismembering his ex-girlfriend with a machete, according to court filings.
Investigators were called to Nicholas Scurria's apartment in February 2022 after a concerned neighbor called police. There, they found the 33-year-old dismembering his ex-girlfriend with a machete, according to court filings.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer

A Clifton Heights man who killed his ex-girlfriend and dismembered her body was sentenced Friday to 35 to 70 years in state prison.

Nicholas Scurria, 33, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault, and related crimes in the death of Deborah Sager, 58, in February 2022.

Scurria, in entering the plea late last week before Delaware County Judge John Capuzzi, apologized for killing Sager, saying he regretted his actions.

“I feel really horrible for what I’ve done,” he said. “At one time, the victim was my best friend. I’ve lost a best friend, and I have to live with that every day of my life.”

Scurria’s attorney, Mary Elizabeth Welch, declined to comment Monday.

» READ MORE: Man arrested for killing and dismembering his ex-girlfriend in Clifton Heights

Prosecutors said Sager had few living relatives and relied heavily on Scurria. The two had a falling out, and Scurria attacked her, they said, when she insulted him.

Investigators were called to the Willow Apartments on Springfield Road in the aftermath of that argument. A concerned neighbor had heard screaming, banging, and later “sawing-like sounds,” according to the affidavit of probable cause for Scurria’s arrest.

Though officers were unable to enter the apartment, they looked through a window and saw Scurria sitting on a bed beside a decapitated body, attempting to cut off a leg, the affidavit said.

The officers forced their way into the apartment and confronted Scurria, who told them he repeatedly punched Sager, and knocked her unconscious, according to the affidavit. He said he then tried to dismember her with a machete to dispose of the evidence, the affidavit said.