By Thomas Tracy, Julian Roberts-Grmela
New York Daily News
NEW YORK 鈥� The man accused of took the stand at his trial Friday, denying that he knifed Russo to death just steps from her Queens EMS station.
Peter Zisopoulos claimed he was fast asleep in his apartment when Russo was murdered, even though police said he stabbed the beloved EMT lieutenantduring the Sept. 29, 2022, slaying.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 go outside,鈥� he said of the day Russo was murdered.
The murder suspect, dressed in an orange city Department of Correction jumpsuit, claimed he didn鈥檛 know what had happened until cops were banging on his door. He didn鈥檛 open the door right away because he was afraid of the police, he said.
鈥淭hey harass me,鈥� Zisopoulos mumbled of police, with a blank expression on his face, as defense attorney Jonathan Latimer questioned him from the witness stand. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust them,鈥� he said.
He said that he injured his hand 鈥� an injury cops said he received from stabbing Russo 鈥� while blocking the peephole as he tried to stop cops from entering his apartment.
Zisopoulos also claimed that the blood cops found in the bedroom he shared with his mother came from his sister, who had a nosebleed sometime before that day.
The Queens resident claimed he woke up around 8 a.m. that day, had cereal, then went back to sleep until about 2 p.m., when cops were at his door. He never left the apartment before cops arrived, he said.
His denial was made in front of a gallery full of FDNY and EMS members and Russo鈥檚 daughter Danielle Fuocco.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe this guy has the nerve to deny all of this when it鈥檚 clear as day from multiple different angles what occurred,鈥� Fuocco said bitterly after Zisopoulos鈥� testimony. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a real shame that he鈥檚 walking the earth and among us.鈥�
Russo was near her stationhouse in Astoria when Zisopoulos, then 34, allegedly ambushed her and repeatedly stabbed her. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died.
He鈥檚 accused of stabbing Russo more than 20 times, and faces 25 years to life if convicted. At the opening of his case Monday, Queens Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Selkowe said Zisopoulos 鈥渉ad the desire to kill鈥� when he knifed Russo to death.
鈥淗e cut through her flesh, cut through her rib cage and cut through her vital organs,鈥� Selkowe told the jurors. 鈥淗e punctured her right lung. He punctured her left lung. He punctured her heart. He punctured her liver. Twenty times, stabbed her in broad daylight on a public street in front of witnesses and under the watch of surveillance cameras.鈥�
The killer ran up to Russo as she stood on the corner and attacked her just as she noticed him, video viewed by the Daily News showed.
He knocked Russo to the ground as he lunged at her with a knife, then repeatedly stabbed her as she lay on the sidewalk. He then ran to his apartment and barricaded himself inside for about an hour before police talked him into surrendering.
Zispoulous was in the middle of a mental and emotional crisis at the time of the attack, officials said. His mental health status has been the subject of several court hearings over the past three years, with Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant in June 2023 deeming him . But he was found fit again that October and again last week, despite findings by two court-appointed medical experts.
The trial went ahead after Pandit-Durant determined that Zispoulous appeared to meet the legal standard for mental competence since he understood the details of the trial proceedings.
Russo, a 24-year FDNY veteran, had been expecting to retire in a few months when she was slain. She was appointed to the FDNY in March 1998 as an emergency medical technician and was promoted to paramedic in 2002 and to lieutenant in 2016. Former FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh posthumously during the victim鈥檚 funeral on Long Island.
The defense rested after Zispoulous testified. Closing arguments are expected to begin Monday.
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