It's almost assured that Adrian Comacho will spend the rest of his too-long life on death row after a jury yesterday recommended the death penalty. Judges rarely depart from the jury's recommendation on life in prison or death, and this isn't a case where that's likely to occur.

Full disclosure: I knew Officer Tony Zeppetella. His wife, Jamie, was a friend of mine and she introduced him to me when they were dating and he was working as a personal trainer. Tony always had a big smile on his face and was a genuinely nice guy.

So, this is personal for me, and I applaud the jury for seeing through the slick lawyering that sought to blame Camacho's barbarity on drugs and portray him as a victim.

The only unfortunate thing is that it is likely that Jakob Zeppetella will probably be my age before his father's killer finally goes to meet his maker.