She said police never asked her about the incidents or for a description of the person. As a city desk editor, he's on the front lines of newsgathering for the Capital Region's newspaper. [2] Despite Peter's catastrophic injuries, he survived for several hours after the attack. Christopher is the youngest child and was 21 in 2004 when this happened. Some thoughts with regard to Joan's brain injury: Surveillance cameras captured the Jeep leaving a Rochester college the night of the attacks. Join the newsletter to get updates monthly straight to your email, and win one of 10 free books. He is not eligible for parole until 2052 when hell be 69 years old. The events started in the early morning hours of November. Investigators theorized he wore scrubs from the veterinary office during the assault and then destroyed or hidthem. Mike Goodwin has been a stock broker, garbage man, and a house painter. There, the Times Union reports that Peter was found dead while his wife, who was heavily injured, was still alive in their upstairs bedroom. The Lifetime channel made a movie based on the crimes,Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story, in 2013. The story is something of a middle-class version of the Menendez brothers saga. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. The trial was moved from Albany County to the Orange County town of Goshen. Later that day, Porco was found guilty of second degree murder and attempted murder. As promised, McDermott's questioning lasted only a few minutes. One morning in late 2004, Peter and Joan Porco were discovered in their quiet suburban home with massive head injuries inflicted by an axe. Perhaps a formerloan sharknamed Frank Frankie the Fireman Porco a great uncleof Peters had been consideringrattingout his mob associates, and they killed Peter as a warning not to. Her answers were mostly clear and lucid, although occasionally she lost her train of thought and asked attorneys to restate their questions. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. His appeals have been exhausted. The Porco family were from Delmar, NY - Peter Porco was 52 at the time of the murder (he worked as a court clerk) and he lived with his wife Joan, who was a speech pathologist. And it's so poignant that the dad wrote out a check for his parking tickets as he was dying from the axe wound to the head. Eventually, Peter collapsed and died. [28], In 2023, WTEN reporter John Gray interviewed Christopher Porco in prison. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union) It had footage of the yellow Jeep leaving and returning to campus at an interval that fit a realistic timeline for commission of the crime: 10:30 p.m. Jeep left Rochester campus Porco had sold the laptop on eBay. WTEN anchor John Gray recently interviewed Porco in prison. He told his parents the school had agreed to cover his tuition because of the error. "You shouldn't cry over spilled milk." In 2006, the Porco case was the subject of an hourlong episode of CBS's 48 Hours. He was away at college, and had broken off contact with his family at a time when he was flunking out of school, drowning in debt and becoming exposed for a series of lies he'd told his parents. Spotlight News states that Peter was extensively maimed and had a deep cut from his skull to his brain. Joan Porco wrote to her son, who received the e-mail on his cellphone. Peter Porco, 52, a longtime judges law clerk, suffered devastating wounds to his head. Albert grows up thinking that his father died fighting for France in World War I. Shanks noted that Frank Porco's nickname with the mob was "The Fireman," which could have had something to do with the type of murder weapon found (an axe that he and his wife had dubbed a "fire axe"). Shortly after, the Porcos were attacked. Peter Porco was murdered, his wife left for dead. A jury quickly convicted Christopher on the strength of the timeline the prosecution constructed. Christopher Porco was a 21-year-old student at the University of Rochester when he attacked his parents. The owner of criminalmisconduct.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. `It is not uncommon for patients after neurosurgery to have changes or lapses in their memory,` Spurgas testified. She also touched her fingertips to her chin and lower lip often, an apparent residual habit from the numerous surgeries to her face, head, eyes and jaw. Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael P. McDermott apologized to Joan Porco before posing his first question, telling her: "I promise I'll be brief.". He told her the credit device, called a "Mobil SpeedPass," had been stolen. ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) - Friday marks 15 years since the infamous murder of a father and mutilation of a mother in Delmar by Christopher Porco, who attacked his parents with an axe. Mothers love. Long before the tragedy: Joan and Peter Porco with their sons, Christopher on the left, in the 1980s A jury convicted Christopher, an academically derelict University of Rochester student from Bethlehem, New York, of attacking Joan and Peter Porco with an ax as they slept on November 15, 2004. Spurgas is considered an expert witness for the prosecution because of the 7,000 surgeries he performed throughout his career, hundreds of them involving brain and spinal cord injuries. Instead of working out a plan to repay his parents, he tried to avoid them, then decided to kill them. `There is no notation that ever indicated Joan Porco was given a mental status exam when she came to the emergency room,` Shanks said. Joan survived, but continues to have severe facial disfigurement. On 15 November 2004, Joan and Peter Porco had been found seemingly murdered. Joan Porco survived and, like her son, shes said little publicly about the case. 15, 2004, when their son Christopher Porco decided to butcher them brutally with a firemans ax while at sleep. Thats all for this weeks post, but Id like to continue next Thursday with a look at some of the other interesting parts of the Christopher Porco drama, including the way hisdoomed father woke up after the attack, the conflicting tales about whether Christopher deserved the Romeo Killer nickname a made-for-TV movie gave him, and his recent efforts to exithis maximum-security residence. You can contact us at 518.439.4949. She suffered disfiguring injuries to her head and face, including the loss of an eye, and slight damage to her brain. Family Ties (Forensic Files). 2022 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. It was spring break, and Christopher Porco was touring Europe with some friends when his parents found out. You would absolutely be familiar with Scott P An axe belonging to family, which was used in the attack, was found in the couple's bedroom. He was sentenced to fifty years in prison. The Albany County coroner's physician, Dr. Jeffrey Hubard, noted that this was because "There are no injuries there that are instantly or rapidly fatal." Founded in 2010, Thought Catalog is owned and operated by The Thought & Expression Company, Inc. For over a decade, we've been at the bleeding edge of media, pioneering an infrastructure for creatives to flourish both artistically and financially. She maintained that while Christophers financial misdeeds angered her and Peter, theyall loved one another and wanted to workon their relationship. Windfall expected. Bethlehem Police soon focused their investigation on Christopher Porco, the younger of the couple's two sons, who was a student at the University of Rochester 230 miles away. "[22], Defense attorney Terence Kindlon emphasized that the Bethlehem Police Department had no physical evidence linking Christopher Porco to the attack on his parents. Change-of-venue requests are rarely granted but Terence L. Kindlon, who teamed with his wife, Laurie Shanks, to defend Porco, successfully convinced an appeals court that the trial needed to be moved from Albany County. The only direct evidence at trial was testimony by government witnesses that Christopher's grievously injured mother, Joan Porco, several hours after the attack, and after police had fully secured the crime scene, and while suffering from untreated and profound wounds to her eyes, face, brain and head, nodded in response to police questions "I was trying to get Christopher to come clean with information that he kept from us," she said on the stand. Porco's lawyer, in response, contended that the nod given by Joan Porco after the incident, which became a central component of the . CASE STUDY: The Flawed Interview of a Psychopathic Killer: What Went Wrong? Peter Porco was . She has been her son's staunchest supporter, accusing police of bungling the investigation and charging the wrong person. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. For one,someone had burglarized the Porcos house in 2002 and 2003, and Christopher was the No. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. Good Lord, the human body is capable of some amazing things with the assistance of adrenaline. During the. `You are not a doctor,` said . "[13], The following day, Peter Porco was notified that Christopher had also obtained a line of credit from Citibank to finance the Jeep Wrangler, again using his father's name as a cosignatory. [5], In late November 2004, outgoing Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne convened a grand jury to hear testimony implicating Christopher Porco in the murder. Many jurors sat stone-faced as they listened to Joan Porco's testimony, which included anecdotes about her boys' childhoods that made some jurors laugh, along with Christopher. Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (William E. Storrs of counsel), for respondent. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling 8: 4157 (2011) DOI: 10.1002/jip.128, Forensic Files, Season 13, Episode 25: "Family Ties. Where is henow? [20] She also answered in similar ways to other separate questions. Copyright 2012-2023. [20], Christopher Porco is incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility. I was surprised to read thatRomeo Killerportrayed Christopher Porco as a charming ladies man with lots of friends. But she was alive and conscious. Defense Attorney Laurie Shanks was quick to point out that Spurgas is a neurosurgeon and not a neurologist, and cannot testify as an expert witness with respect to cognitive functions. He stated (via ABC News), "And at the base of those stairs is the dead body of Peter Porco. Build a custom email digest by following topics, people, and firms published on JD Supra. Hell beeligible for parole in the year 2052. At one point, he reached out and straightened her necklace.