LINDENSHURST, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Long Island man was indicted on Thursday for fatally stabbing his wife earlier this month in front of their teenage son who attempted to save her, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said.
Ryszard Murawski, 44, is accused of second-degree murder and aggravated criminal contempt for killing his wife, Wioleta Murawski, who had a protection order issued against him the week before.
At 8:33 p.m. on Jan. 3, the Suffolk County police received a call from the couple's son, 15, who said his father had stabbed his mother and fled in a black GMC pick-up truck.
"The teen, distraught during the duration of the call, begged the police for help as he desperately tried to save his mother's life," the district attorney's office said.
The teen told police that when he returned home from a friend's house, he heard his mother screaming for help from the backyard. When he ran outside, he saw his father stabbing his mother with a large, serrated knife, prosecutors said.
He jumped onto his father and they struggled until his mother broke free, officials said. Wioleta was able to make it across the street before collapsing next to her child.
The victim was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip where she was pronounced dead.
"The sheer horror that young man must have felt to witness his mother being attacked is unfathomable," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said. "The brutality of this defendant's alleged actions are only made worse by the fact that he attacked the mother of his child in front of that child. Now, he will be held to account for his actions."
Police tried to stop Ryszard, who fled in his truck, and a chase began when he refused to pull over.
He was pursued for seven miles by police units with sirens on, and then he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the side of a building, authorities said.
Prosecutors said that the Murawski home surveillance system captured the brutal attack, a knife was recovered from the vicinity of the murder and a substantial amount of blood was found in the area of the attack and across the street, where Wioleta collapsed.
The defendant is expected to return to court on Feb. 7.
