A Rhode Island man who admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend in a violent outburst will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Michael Marrapese, 46, was sentenced on Oct. 23 to life imprisonment without parole for the 2019 murder of 29-year-old Lauren Ise in Cranston, according to a release from Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. Marrapese, the son of the late mobster Frank “Bobo” Marrapese, pleaded guilty in April to one count of domestic first-degree murder.
Authorities said that on March 13, 2019, one of Marrapese’s friends contacted police to report that Marrapese had confessed to killing Ise at her home. When officers arrived, they found Ise dead inside her apartment.
The couple had ended their relationship about a month earlier. Ise had planned to move out of their shared home, but Marrapese allegedly refused to let her collect her belongings. When she called the police for help, he became “irate” and was arrested for disorderly conduct.
After his release, Marrapese was arrested again the next day following a dispute with his landlord and was jailed as a bail violator.
A week after regaining his freedom, he sought out his former girlfriend.
In the early morning of March 12, 2019, Marrapese reportedly knocked on Ise’s apartment windows, but she did not respond. Around 6 a.m., he confronted a neighbor, asking whether Ise was seeing someone new, before leaving.
He returned the following day and strangled Ise to death, prosecutors said. Afterward, he drove to a friend’s home and confessed to the killing.
Before his arraignment, Marrapese allegedly told sheriffs escorting him to court that he had killed Ise. In the days that followed, he again confessed during multiple phone calls and conversations with a friend, revealing details of the crime that had not been made public.
“This defendant consistently sought to exert control over Lauren. Now her friends and family are left to pick up the pieces,” Neronha said in a statement. “While nothing can bring Lauren back, I hope they now feel some semblance of peace knowing justice has been served.”
Marrapese’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
