Nearly breaking down into tears, Scott Hanks, 50, pleaded guilty to murder on Monday, March 23, while apologizing to the family of a man whom he stabbed multiple times in the abdomen with a Samurai sword.

But his words were not enough for the family of William Solberg Jr., who was 49 years old when he was killed last April in the driveway of a cabin on Canobie Lake in Salem.

“There is no punishment great enough for you,” said Solberg’s sister, Cheryl Hughes of Andover, Mass. “We accept your plea bargain not because it is just, but to spare our family any more hurt.”

Superior Court Justice Kenneth R. McHugh sentenced Hanks to state prison for 15 to 30 years at the request of prosecutors.

Hughes was joined by almost two dozen family members who fully packed four rows of seats inside the courtroom. She said nothing can take away the family’s pain of losing their brother, uncle and son -- a kind and funloving man who worked in the family business.

“You have changed our lives forever, but you will not ruin our lives forever,” she said. “You made a wrong decision and we hope you pay for it for the rest of your life.”

Solberg’s other sister was also given a chance by the court to speak to Hanks after his guilty plea but before a judge sentenced him.

“Mr. Hanks, you had choices, you didn’t have to plunge that sword into my brother,” said Marybeth Cosgrove of Melrose, Mass.

Solberg’s parents were in the courtroom, but they were too distressed to speak, said Cosgrove. He was their only son.

“It has almost been a year, and there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by when I don’t ask myself why this happened,” Cosgrove said.

She said she will miss looking into his blue eyes.

“We will only be able to hold him in our hearts and that’s one thing you will never be able to take away,” she said.

In the late afternoon on April 6, Solberg came to the cabin Hanks was renting in Salem to confront him about a woman, who was also in the home, according to prosecutor Kirsten B. Wilson. It was the second day Solberg had been to the house on Lake Shore Road and Hanks was “seeing red,” he told police.

Hanks, dressed in only sweatpants, grabbed a Samurai sword to confront an unarmed Solberg in the driveway. He popped the rear driver’s side tire so he could not escape, then the two started brawling, according to Wilson, a senior assistant attorney general.

Neighbors called police when they saw Hanks holding Solberg on the ground in a headlock while stabbing him with the sword in his right hand, Wilson said in court.

Before being sentenced, Hanks was allowed to make a statement to the family. Wearing an orange jailhouse jumpsuit but no handcuffs, he stood from the defendant’s table and turned to face Solberg’s family.

“Not a single day has passed that I have not grieved your loss, especially on holidays and special occasions,” he said, adding the feelings were especially strong on Mother’s Day.

Losing a sibling of his own has helped him understand their loss, said Hanks, partially reading from a one-page note.

“If I could leave with anything from this terrible mess, it would be that you know how deeply, truly sorry that I am,” he said, nearly breaking into tears.

McHugh, from the bench, warned others to be in control of themselves at all times because so many lives can be changed in a heartbeat.

Hanks said he planned to help other people in jail who are troubled so Solberg’s death was not in vain.

After the hearing, Cosgrove, Solberg’s sister, questioned whether Hanks’ apology was from the heart. Both sisters thanked members of the State Attorney General’s office.