WSET.com - ABC13Woman Sentenced to Prison for Murder Asks for Forgiveness

Reporter: Lauren Compton | Videographer: Jemon Haskins 

Bedford Co., VA - A 30-year-old Bedford County woman convicted of killing her 77-year-old boyfriend learned her fate Friday.

A judge sentenced Kristina Pongracz to 15 years in prison for brutally beating William Herchenrider.

During the sentencing, Pongracz testified about the heated fight that led to that beating and her relationship with a man 40 years her senior.

The couple had a very intimate relationship that started when Pongracz was just 18. She testified she was very much in love with Herchenrider and never meant to kill him.

"I'm sorry to your family. Bill was my family too, and I ask you could find in your heart over time to forgive me," said Pongracz.

It's a request Herchenrider's daughters say they are not ready for.

" I am not at the forgiveness point. I'm at the anger point," said Sara Friel, a daughter.

It's an anger that rose to the surface again when Pongracz testified about the beating. That night, Pongracz says Herchenrider threw her and a friend out of the house. She came back in a drunken haze and only remembers

"And I was holding onto his arm. The skin broke on his arm. That caused a lot of blood everywhere all over my hands, all over him. It was a bloody nightmare," said Pongracz.

Pongracz says she will forever be haunted by that night and the closure she wanted so badly.

"I never got to say goodbye to Bill after that night," she said.

Pongracz also shared details of her intimate and turbulent relationship with Herchenrider. She says he helped get her a job at Delta Star when she was 18 and then lavished her with gifts, trips and money.

The defense even suggested that Herchenrider preyed on her, comparing him to a sexual predator, which the family says is false.

"I have known her for many years. She's a liar. She manipulative, she's narcissistic," said Friel.

"My father's goal all along was to help Ms. Pongracz with her many issues. And unfortunately he had to die for that to happen," said Heidi Forson, another daughter.

The defense attorney argued Herchenrider had pre-existing conditions, and his death was caused more by those conditions than the brutal beating. They also pointed out that Pongracz had a history of Bipolar disorder and alcoholism.