A man from New York could spend the rest of his life behind bars after fatally stabbing his wife and injuring their son while he attempted to defend her.
Ryszard Murawski, 44, admitted to second-degree murder on Tuesday in connection with the death of Wioleta Murawski, 38, which occurred in her backyard on Long Island in January. Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office reports that Ryszard Murawski assaulted his wife on January 3, 2024, at approximately 8:30 p.m.
Suffolk County police responded to a 911 call from the couple’s 15-year-old son, who reported that his father had stabbed his mother and then left the scene in a black GMC pickup truck, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
“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 DA’s office said. He told police that he heard his mother screaming for help in the backyard as he returned home from a friend’s house. He said he ran to the backyard to discover his father stabbing his mother with a “large, serrated knife.”
The son of the Murawski family attempted to intervene in the violence on his own.
“The boy jumped on his father and struggled with him until his mother was able to break free,” the DA’s statement said. “Wioleta Murawski was able to stumble across the street before collapsing with her son by her side.”
She was transported to a hospital, but unfortunately, she did not make it after the attack.
The prosecutor indicated that the “brutal attack” was seemingly recorded by the Murawski family’s home surveillance system.
After escaping the house, Murawski kept running while police pursued him.
“Multiple police units pursued Murawski for more than seven miles with lights and sirens before the defendant lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the side of a building,” the statement said.
Murawski could be sentenced to a lengthy prison term of 22 years to life. He is set to appear in court again on October 17.
“This is a tragic case of domestic violence that ended with the senseless death of Wioleta Murawski and horrific trauma to their child,” District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in the statement. “This defendant will now have to pay for his actions in prison.”
“Domestic violence is never the answer,” Tierney added, urging victims of domestic abuse to reach out to police for help.