1Riverhead, N.Y. – A Yaphank truck driver was sentenced Wednesday to 22 years to life in prison for killing his girlfriend inside the cab of his tractor-trailer outside a Patchogue motel.

Willie Hart, 61, was convicted in October of murdering 37-year-old Candace Woodruff after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder.

The sentence was handed down in Suffolk County Court by Justice Richard Ambro following an emotional victim impact statement from Woodruff’s mother.

According to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney, Hart strangled Woodruff in the early morning hours of May 29, 2023, inside his truck, which was parked near the Shore Motor Inn in Patchogue.

Investigators said Hart called 911 at about 2:25 a.m., claiming he found Woodruff unresponsive.

Surveillance capt

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