WOODROW — A man who broke into a Woodrow home in 2014, stabbing a man to death and injuring the victim's wife, was convicted of murder for the attack on Friday, District Attorney Michael McMahon announced.
Dante Viggiano, 21, of Great Kills, was found guilty during the second day of deliberations in a month-long jury trial for the murder of Peter Gialluisi, 66, McMahon said. His attorney had tried to argue that he was insane.
"The people’s case proved that, without any reasonable doubt, this defendant had the mental capacity to fully understand the magnitude and horrific nature of his evil actions and today a jury returned a verdict that confirms just that," McMahon said in a statement.
After his arrest, Viggiano was ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination and was found to be fit for trial.
A doctor at the trial testified that the accused was schizophrenic but still knew the difference between right and wrong during the break-in, the Staten Island Advance reported.
"It was a very difficult case, especially when you’re dealing with mental illness and the requirements of the New York law to prove that he lacked the ability to appreciate the nature and consequences of his action or that they were wrong," his lawyer, Eric Nelson, said.
On Aug. 31, 2014, Gialluisi, his wife Vincenza Gialluisi, 67, and his brother-in-law pulled into their 80 Venus Place garage at 9:45 p.m. after celebrating birthdays with family in New Jersey, McMahon said.
His brother-in-law went upstairs into his apartment and when Vincenza Gialluisi walked out of her garage into her home she noticed a light on.
Viggiano came from behind and repeatedly stabbed her in the head, neck and back with a kitchen knife, McMahon said.
Viggiano then went into the garage and fatally stabbed Gialluisi — who was disabled — in the head and neck before running into the woods, McMahon said.
He went home after the attack, but was taken to the hospital after his mother noticed he was covered in blood and cuts on his hand, McMahon said.
Viggiano was taken to the same hospital where Vincenza Gialluisi was being treated. Detectives trying to find a connection between the two saw a person at Viggiano's address had been previously arrested for car theft, McMahon said.
Between July 19 and July 22, 2014, Viggiano burglarized a nearby home and stole the keys to a 2004 Nissan Altima then called the victims to set up an exchange for the car.
Viggiano was arrested after the exchange, McMahon said.
He gave his name as Jonathan Rameriz for that arrest and the original car keys were never recovered, McMahon said.
On Aug. 30, Viggiano used the keys to steal the car again, which was recovered several houses down from the Gialluisi's home after the murder, McMahon said.
Investigators later found the murder weapon and a bloody glove in three plastic cups inside the woods near the home.
Viggiano faces a maximum of life in prison without parole for the charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11, McMahon said.
