A Chestnuthill man who shot and killed his elderly father in October 2020 was sentenced to 15-40 years in state prison earlier this month by Monroe County President Judge Margherita Patti Worthington.

Rick Colatrella, 49, of 110 Birch Lane, was sentenced after pleading guilty to third-degree murder.

Initially, he was charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder.

According to Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso, the prosecution offered Colatrella the third-degree murder plea, but, he said, while the plea avoids a life sentence for the defendants, the proceeding and sentencing ensures Colatrella “would be incarcerated for a long enough time so as not to be a threat to the community.”

Details surrounding the case showed the defendant has had a lifelong disability due to his low intellectual functioning, although during court proceedings he was determined to be able to stand trial.

Court records show Colatrella shot and killed his 83-year-old father, Nicholas, and immediately admitted to the slaying when police arrived, telling troopers he fired three shots of a Millennium Taurus semi-automatic handgun at his father.

When police arrived at the home, they found the victim slumped over on the sofa with two gunshot wounds in his head and one in his neck.

During the sentencing, Judge Worthington said the arrest and proceedings were a “very troubling case.”

In addition to the state term, the defendant was ordered to undergo a psychological and psychiatric evaluation and to attend anger management counseling.

The assistant district attorney, meanwhile said, “The case against Mr. Colatrella was open and shut. His was a premeditated killing.”

He said Nicholas Colatrella was not armed and was simply sitting on the couch at the home, barely mobile, when the killing took place.

Mancuso added, “Once again, we have an example of a case that need not have happened. We have an example of where available and appropriate mental health services could have avoided the building of tensions that led to this murder.”