By Melissa Proulx, Staff Writer

Kathryn “Kat” McDonough, the ex-girlfriend of the man convicted in the murder of University of New Hampshire commuter student Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott, was denied parole on Thursday, Nov. 6.

McDonough, who had pleaded guilty to preventing police from making the lawful arrest of the now-convicted Seth Mazzaglia, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Though she has only been behind bars for the last 18 months, the early request was part of a plea bargain in exchange for her testimony against Mazzaglia during his trial this past summer.

McDonough’s 10-day testimony was crucial to Seth Mazzaglia’s guilty conviction on Friday, June 27. Her testimony made up the bulk of the trial and detailed not only of the events that happened the night that Marriott died, but of the BDSM relationship she and Mazzaglia had, telling those in the courtroom of times when the two bit, scratched, slapped, pinched, bounded and even cut each other with knives.

“I want to try and start over,” McDonough told the members of the courtroom via a live feed. “I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people.”

In her plan, McDonough said that she would live with her father in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, an idea that offended many of the parole board due to its close proximity to the scene of the murder.

According to the conviction made by the Stafford County Superior Court, McDonough and Mazzaglia dumped Marriott’s body into the waters off of Peirce Island in Portsmouth after she was murdered on Oct. 9, 2012. Her remains have still not been found to this day.

It was for this reason that they denied McDonough’s request, saying that in the future, it should be revised to include another place to live, one that preferably would not be in the state of New Hampshire.

“This parole plan screams out ‘No, no, no,’” Jeff Brown, a member of the New Hampshire parole board, said. “Because you’re not going to be successful; you’re not.”

Many members of Marriott’s family were in the courtroom on Thursday and shared their opinions on McDonough’s request for parole.

“The murder of Lizzi will be the most defining moment of my life until the day I die,” Bob Marriott, her father, said.

Bob Marriott also called McDonough a “despicable person” for “hindering a murder investigation, the investigation of the most serious crime we have” during his speech.

Other members of the family questioned McDonough’s integrity.

“How can a year and a half be enough time to sort out your thoughts, to receive the help you need, to create a path for the future and really understand the gravity of how you have turned so many people’s lives upside?” Anthony Hanna, Lizzi’s uncle, said during a courtroom speech.

According to a report from WMUR, the parole board said that McDonough will be able to make another request in the next four to six months.

Information and video footage used to gather the quotes from McDonough and the members of Lizzi Marriot’s family from WMUR.com was used in this article.