Court Affirms Sentence In 1995 Glendale Heights Double Murder

GLENDALE HEIGHTS, IL — An appeals court has affirmed a natural life sentence for a man who was convicted of murdering two men in Glendale Heights in 1995. Joseph Arrieta, 43, was 17 years old in 1996 when he was convicted of the double murder of Anthony Moore and Edward Riola.

According to police, Arrieta was playing cards and drinking beer with Moore and Riola in a Glendale Heights apartment when he shot Riola three times and Moore six times. Police say Arrieta then shot Moore another time after finding he was still alive.

At the time of Arrieta's conviction in 1996, double murders required a sentence of natural life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Arrieta's sentence was brought into question when a 2012 Supreme Court decision ruled automatic life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional. As a result, Arrieta had a resentencing hearing in 2017, but the presiding judge ruled that the “petitioner’s original sentence to natural life imprisonment was correct.”

Arrieta later appealed the decision, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion and the sentence was not constitutional. The appellate court ruled on Feb. 1, 2021 to uphold Arrieta's natural life sentence.

“I would like to thank the Appellate Court for their extremely thorough and detailed review of Mr. Arrieta’s claims,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. Berlin added, “The constitutionality of a mandatory life sentence for a juvenile is addressed in Miller v. Alabama. After Mr. Arrieta’s resentencing hearing, the trial court found that Mr. Arrieta, while he was a juvenile at the time of the murders, certainly earned his life sentence behind bars. The Appellate Court agrees.”