Feb. 23—A former Torrington woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to commit murder by helping her one-time boyfriend arrange the fatal stabbings of two members of his family in their home on Clover Street in Windsor in 2020, court records show.

CONSPIRATOR

DEFENDANT: Makenzie Bezio, now 20, formerly of Torrington

GUILTY PLEA: Conspiracy to commit murder

LIKELY SENTENCE: 20 years, suspended after 10 years in prison, followed by five years of probation

The woman, Makenzie Bezio, now 20, faces a likely 10-year prison sentence, according to Hartford Superior Court records. The killings occurred when she was a juvenile but just 15 days before she turned 18 and became an adult.

Under her plea bargain, Bezio will be on probation for five years after the state Department of Correction releases her, facing up to 10 more years in prison if she violates release conditions.

Bezio's likely sentence is far less than those of the other participants in the murders of Sandra Marci, 78, and her daughter Marianne Marci Dzurenka, 55, in their home at 70 Clover St. in Windsor on May 11, 2020. Marianne's husband, Charles Dzurenka Sr., then 52, was wounded but survived.

Terry T. Brown Jr., who committed the stabbings at age 17 and is now 20, was sentenced last year to 58 years in prison. Brown, a Windsor resident, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and single counts of murder conspiracy, first-degree assault, and home invasion.

Charles Dzurenka Jr., who gave police a detailed confession describing how he arranged for Brown to commit the stabbings because of his unhappiness with his family situation, pleaded guilty this month and faces a likely 48-year prison term.

Like the others, he was 17 at the time of the stabbings and is now 20. He pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding or encouraging murder, a count of conspiring in the murders, and a count of aiding or encouraging a first-degree assault. He and Bezio are both to be sentenced May 2.

Brown and Dzurenka Jr. will be eligible for parole after 30 years because they were juveniles when the crimes occurred.

Dzurenka Jr. said in his confession, given on the day of the stabbings, that Bezio had tried to talk him out of the murder plan — but couldn't — and "just went along with it," Windsor police Detective Brian Burke reported in an affidavit.

But Burke's affidavit in Bezio's case recites text messages indicating that she did more than go along with the plan.

At 9:35 p.m. on May 10, 2020, for example, Bezio instructed Dzurenka Jr. to go out the window and come to her across the street while Brown would go "in back."

In his confession, Dzurenka said he left the Clover Street house through his bedroom window around 10 p.m. and ran across the street to where Bezio was waiting in a van with a friend and his mother.

He said they went to a house in Torrington where he communicated with Brown through Snapchat text messages about the progress of the murders, ultimately deciding to let his father live in return for his father's agreement not to say anything and to try to be a better father.

At 10:12 p.m., Dzurenka Jr. asked Bezio what time Brown was "doing this." She replied, "He's doing it at 12 at night in two hours."

Dzurenka Jr. said in his confession that Brown sent him a Snapchat message around midnight saying, "I'm here," followed by one saying, "Dying slowly."

Burke wrote in his affidavit that Bezio was "an active participant in the planning and implementation of the homicides" and relayed messages between Dzurenka Jr. and Brown.

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