The fatal stabbing of a woman by her longtime boyfriend was witnessed by a friend of the woman’s teenage daughter who had been video chatting with the girl on an iPad. Click below to find out more.
The details were released in Woburn District Court as Christopher Piantedosi, 39, was arraigned on a murder charge in the death of Kristen Pulisciano, 38, of Burlington, Mass.
Assistant District Attorney Nicole Allain said Piantedosi chased Pulisciano into their daughter’s bedroom and stabbed her 34 times Thursday. A male friend whom the daughter had been video chatting with saw and heard parts of the attack in real time on his iPad, Allain said.
“He could hear the victim saying, ‘Please, please.’ He could hear the daughter yelling, ‘No. No,'” Allain said in court Monday, according to the Union Leader.
“He then heard the defendant say, ‘You gotta die. You gotta die.’ He then heard the victim say, ‘Chris, please stop. I love you,’ and then the defendant began stabbing Kristen numerous times,” Allain said.
In a digital age of Skyping and video chatting, the alleged viewing of the killing on an iPad presents many new possibilities — and challenges — in trying such cases in court, legal experts told the Boston Herald.
“Obviously, the key question here is whether this data was saved on the electronic device or if the prosecution is going to rely on what the witness says they saw on a computer screen. There’s a big difference between the two,†attorney William Korman told the newspaper. “As we all know, eyewitnesses can say they saw one thing, when they saw another. If they knew the alleged perpetrator, it’s a much more difficult case.
