Maine man sentenced for 2020 killing of lady in a Boston resort

Crime

Aaron Parsons could spend up to 16 years in prison for killing Sarah Dorany in a hotel in Boston’s Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood.

On March 13, 2020, 29-year-old Sarah Dorany was found dead in a Boston hotel room. Aaron Parsons, the Maine man who she was last seen alive with, was sentenced to up to 16 years in prison last week. 

Parsons, a 47-year-old from South Paris, Maine, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter and one count of engaging in sexual conduct for a fee earlier this spring. He will serve 14 to 16 years in state prison followed by three years of probation. 

Prosecutors said that Parsons met Dorany online and that the two arranged to meet up for sex, with Parsons agreeing to pay for the encounter. They met at Eastern Standard, a restaurant located then in Kenmore Square, for dinner on March 11. Parsons booked a room at the nearby Verb Hotel for the two after their meal. 

Dorany was later found naked and unresponsive on the floor of a room in the hotel, with a pillow covering her face. The pillow was contoured to her face, and had dark smudge marks on it that appeared to be makeup. Inside the room investigators also found a suitcase containing men’s clothing that had a sticker with the name “Parsons” on it, according to court documents filed by prosecutors. 

Police reviewed surveillance footage, which showed Parsons and Dorany entering the hotel lobby together around 8:20 p.m. Parsons was then seen walking through the gates at the Hynes Convention Center MBTA station at 11:23 p.m. He entered his apartment building in Revere just before midnight, stayed for about 20 minutes, then left and returned three hours later wearing different clothing, according to prosecutors. 

Parsons left his apartment building again just before 7 a.m. on March 12 and went to the Wonderland MBTA station. He traveled to the area of Drydock Avenue in the Seaport, and was observed discarding his cellphone on surveillance footage, according to prosecutors. 

Parsons was eventually picked up by police on March 17 in Amesbury. He claimed to have no memory of the time period between the evening of March 11 and the morning of March 15. He told police that he woke up under a bridge in Cambridge that morning with no knowledge of what had happened over the past few days. 

Dorany’s death was determined to be caused by mechanical asphyxiation. Prosecutors said that she likely died during the sexual encounter with Parsons. 

Dorany’s sister described her as a “hero, a shining personality, a bright star, a real brave human being,” in an impact statement at the sentencing hearing, according to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office. 

“The loss of her is not only my loss, it is a loss for a lot [of] people, it is a loss for the world,” Dorany’s mother said in an impact statement of her own.