Ryszard Murawski (Suffolk County District Attorney).
A New York man faces up to life in prison after stabbing his wife to death — and injuring his son as he tried to protect her.
Ryszard Murawski, 44, pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the death Wioleta Murawski, 38, in her backyard on Long Island in January. According to a statement from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Ryszard Murawski attacked his wife on Jan. 3, 2024, at around 8:30 p.m.
Suffolk County police received a 911 call from the couple’s 15-year-old son stating that his father had stabbed his mother and then fled in a black GMC pickup truck, the prosecutor’s statement said.
“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 Murawski’s son tried to stop the brutality himself.
“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 taken to a hospital but ultimately did not survive the attack.
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The “brutal attack” was apparently captured on the Murawski family’s home surveillance system, the prosecutor said.
After fleeing the house, Murawski continued to run even as police gave chase.
“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 faces 22 years to life in prison. He is expected to return to court on Oct. 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.
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