Greater Long Island coverage is funded in part by Toresco & Simonelli, a boutique injury and family law firm in West Islip. They fight for their clients. Click here to get in touch.
A Yaphank truck driver received a 22-year-to-life prison sentence Wednesday for murdering his girlfriend outside a Patchogue motel last year, Suffolk County prosecutors announced.
Willie Hart, 61, a long-haul truck driver, was convicted in October of second-degree murder in the May 29, 2023, killing of 37-year-old Candace “Candi” Ann Woodruff of Houston, Texas, outside the Shore Motor Inn in Patchogue.
Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney called the victim impact statement delivered in court by Woodruff’s mother a “painful testament to the irreparable harm the defendant has caused.”
“We hope that today’s sentence brings Candace’s family some semblance of peace,” he said.
Prosecutors said Hart called 911 shortly after 2:25 a.m., claiming he had found Woodruff unresponsive in his tractor cab parked near the motel. Police at the scene saw Woodruff lying on the ground in front of the cab, not breathing, and noted active bleeding scratches on Hart’s face.
Investigators documented extensive injuries on Woodruff, including facial and neck abrasions; soft tissue hemorrhage in her neck; head and neck contusions; and minor abrasions on her legs and arms.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner determined her cause of death as asphyxia by neck compression.
Video surveillance and forensic evidence established a timeline of events.
Woodruff left her motel room at 1:25 a.m. with several bags and entered Hart’s tractor cab. Hart followed minutes later, and surveillance footage shows a struggle between the two inside the cab.
After getting out of the cab, Hart touched the area of his face where police later observed blood, returned to the motel to retrieve a bag, placed it in a car, and then went back to the cab before calling 911, Tierney said.
Investigators discovered clear signs of a struggle, including food in Woodruff’s mouth and jewelry consistent with items that had been worn by the victim.
Shortly after Woodruff’s death, a fundraising effort was established at everloved.com to help offset the costs of her funeral.
Top: (left) Candace “Candi” Woodruff (everloved.com); (top right) Willie Hart, provided by the district attorney’s office; and (below right) the Shore Motor Inn in Patchogue, via Google Maps.
