A man described as a psychopath apologized Monday to the sisters of a musician he helped kill last fall in a downtown Santa Fe park. Richard Eastman's apology came just before a judge sentenced him to nine years in prison.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," the 40-year-old Eastman said of the beating death of Christopher Rose. "The life I was living led me to that horrible incident. Now I face every day with the fact that I helped murder my friend."

Rose, 45, got into a fight with Eastman and Scott Claybaugh, 41, late Sept. 5 in DeVargas Park.

According to police, Claybaugh knocked Rose unconscious by hitting him over the head with his guitar, then Eastman helped Claybaugh drag Rose into the Santa Fe River, where he was left face-down in the water and Claybaugh stabbed him at least 10 times.

Claybaugh late last year was sentenced to 26 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in Rose's death. Eastman, whose testimony helped convict Claybaugh, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

On Monday, Rose's four sisters asked state District Judge Michael Vigil to impose the maximum nine-year sentence on Eastman.

Sheri Rose, who lives in Central New Mexico, held a photograph of her brother that was taken several years ago, while he was living with her, as she told Eastman that her brother would want her to forgive him.

"What he would say to you is that he loves you," she said. "He would want you to come to the point where you can forgive yourself and, in that way, someday you could walk with him in love."

Lauri Leach of New York state also attended the sentencing. Terese Hammer of Pennsylvania and Deborah Rose of North Carolina spoke to the court by telephone. The three also are Rose's sisters.

"I hope it haunts you for the rest of your pathetic life," Hammer told Eastman.

Eastman's public-defender lawyer, Joseph Campbell, called his client "a sad story" who has lived "hand to mouth" and been "adrift for his whole life."

A Department of Corrections psychiatric report on Eastman described him as psychopathic, but with "parasitic" rather than "predatory" tendencies, meaning he does not engage in violence for a thrill, but "to survive," Campbell said.

"Richard is not just a throwaway," he said. "He's a rather sincere, well-spoken person with hope and a hopeful future."

Assistant District Attorney Krishna Singh said Claybaugh was responsible for 90 percent of what happened to Rose, and that Eastman's testimony helped solve the crime.

Vigil then sentenced Eastman to nine years behind bars plus two years of probation upon release, telling him he hopes he will learn to understand his mental illness in prison.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.