Peter Zisopoulos convicted of second-degree murder in fatal stabbing of FDNY-EMS Capt. Alison Russo of Huntington
A Queens criminal jury Monday convicted an Astoria man with a history of mental illness for the murder in 2022 of FDNY-EMS captain Alison Russo of Huntington, capping a trial in which the brutal stabbing of the victim was shown through video surveillance evidence.
The jury of eight men and four women convicted Peter Zisopoulos, 37, of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon, the knife used to kill the 61-year-old Russo on Sept. 29, 2022 after the defendant ambushed her on a street corner.
Jurors delivered the verdict after both defense and prosecution gave closing statements in a trial which took over three full days of testimony from 18 witnesses, as well as the testimony of Zisopoulis, who denied that he was the man depicted in the videos which captured the killing.on
Defense attorney Jonathan Latimer repeated the mantra, based on Zisopoulis’s denials that "it wasn’t Peter" who committed the killing and said that the prosecution had not proven that Zisopoulis intended to kill Russo, a necessary element of the crime of second degree murder.
However, Queens assistant district attorney Jonathan Selkowe deried the defense position, saying that Zisopoulis’s denials "strained credulity" in the face of all of the video surveillance and testimony depicting him as the killer. Selkowe also used graphic autopsy photos of Russo’s body, showing how her heart was penetrated nine times by the steak knife used in the attack, an indication he said that Zisopoulis had the clear intent to take her life.
Zisopoulis had been found unfit by two experts to stand trial because he was delusional and psychotic. But Queens State Supreme Court Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant found that Zisopoulis was legally fit to stand trial, even though he didn’t want to invoked the affirmative defense that he was mentally ill at the time of the killing.
Zispoulis faces a 25 year to life sentence
A Queens criminal jury Monday convicted an Astoria man with a history of mental illness for the murder in 2022 of FDNY-EMS captain Alison Russo of Huntington, capping a trial in which the brutal stabbing of the victim was shown through video surveillance evidence.
The jury of eight men and four women convicted Peter Zisopoulos, 37, of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon, the knife used to kill the 61-year-old Russo on Sept. 29, 2022 after the defendant ambushed her on a street corner.
Jurors delivered the verdict after both defense and prosecution gave closing statements in a trial which took over three full days of testimony from 18 witnesses, as well as the testimony of Zisopoulis, who denied that he was the man depicted in the videos which captured the killing.on
Defense attorney Jonathan Latimer repeated the mantra, based on Zisopoulis’s denials that "it wasn’t Peter" who committed the killing and said that the prosecution had not proven that Zisopoulis intended to kill Russo, a necessary element of the crime of second degree murder.
However, Queens assistant district attorney Jonathan Selkowe deried the defense position, saying that Zisopoulis’s denials "strained credulity" in the face of all of the video surveillance and testimony depicting him as the killer. Selkowe also used graphic autopsy photos of Russo’s body, showing how her heart was penetrated nine times by the steak knife used in the attack, an indication he said that Zisopoulis had the clear intent to take her life.
Zisopoulis had been found unfit by two experts to stand trial because he was delusional and psychotic. But Queens State Supreme Court Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant found that Zisopoulis was legally fit to stand trial, even though he didn’t want to invoked the affirmative defense that he was mentally ill at the time of the killing.
