Art Professor Imprisoned For Brutally Torturing, Bludgeoning Colleague

Mount Holyoke College arts professor Rie Hachiyanagi was sentenced Wednesday to at least 10 years in prison for a brutal, 4-hour attack against her colleague in 2019.

“For four hours I experienced literal torture of body and of mind, not knowing if I would survive the next minute—yet needing to find some way to save my life,” Savoy said, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Hachiyanagi pled guilty to nine charges including assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person older than 60 on Oct. 18, according to Mass Live. Hachiyanagi allegedly told her colleague, Lauret Savoy, that she had loved her for years and that she should have known about her feelings, according to the Daily Beast.

Hachiyanagi knocked on Savoy’s door late at night on Dec. 23, 2019 and claimed to need emotional support. Upon entering her home, Hachiyanagi repeatedly struck Savoy with a fire poker, pruning shears, and a rock, according to prosecutors, Mass Live reported.

“This is the most horrific set of facts I’ve heard,” the judge in the case stated, according to Mass Live.

Defense attorney Thomas Kokonowski said Hachiyanagi had been a model prisoner since her arrest and asked for a sentence of 5-7 years followed by probation, according to Mass Live.