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. 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. Exclusive: Convicted murderer Christopher Porco sits down with John Gray to talk about new motion in case. Investigators theorized he wore scrubs from the veterinary office during the assault and then destroyed or hidthem. The neurosurgeon who operated on Joan Porcos skull fractures after the ax attack inside the Porco familys Brockley Drive home in November 2004, said her severe injuries could cause memory lapses following recovery. ABC News explains that the Porcos discovered their son's actions. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) Christopher Porco escorts his mother Joan Porco from the Orange County Courthouse in Goshen at lunch during the third day of jury selection on Wednesday June 28, 2006. They smiled and talked, looking every bit like a close-knit mother and son. I cleaned the medicine cup, placed it to dry. Judge Berry refused to allow prosecutors to use the forged transcripts as evidence in their criminal case against Christopher Porco. Hisbrother, Jonathan, 23, was on a nuclear submarine at the time of the crime and notimplicated. Seeing pics of her and him walking to the courtroom together after shes been fucked up by him and an ax is creepy. She said police never asked her about the incidents or for a description of the person. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. [7], Professor Frank Perri has argued that police interviews with Christopher Porco were seriously flawed because police questioning procedures seemingly failed to account for Porco's probable psychopathy. She suffered disfiguring injuries to her head and face, including the loss of an eye, and slight damage to her brain. Later that day, Porco was found guilty of second degree murder and attempted murder. Christopher continued to claim his innocence and his mother later recanted her admission. "[10] Porco earned readmission to the University of Rochester with a forged transcript from Hudson Valley Community College. As she testified Monday at Christopher's murder trial, Joan Porco said the statement was out of character, but she was angry. Joan Porco Identified Killer Then Recanted - YouTube 0:00 / 30:26 #survived #solved SOLVED? A ShowboatingAx Murderer From left, Christopher Porco, John Polster, Attorney and close friend to Joan Porco, Joan Porco, and Defense Attorney Terence Kindlon on July 31, 2006, at the courthouse in Goshen. However, when Officer Bowdish asked if her son Christopher was responsible, she was said to have nodded her head up and down, indicating "yes". But jurors interviewed by 48 Hours Mystery said that they had dismissed the testimony about the nod for precisely that reason and had insteadrelied onthe prosecutions crime timeline as proof of guilt. During the early morning hours of Nov. 15, 2004, Peter and Joan Porco were brutally hacked by an ax-wielding intruder in their bedroom. The Porcos believed the computer was stolen during a burglary at their Brockley Drive home, and Joan Porco did not learn the truth until last year. During the early morning hours of Nov. 15, 2004, Peter and Joan Porco were brutally attacked by an axe-wielding intruder in their bedroom. So, apparently he did have at least some girlfriends but wasnt necessarily a full-onJFK (Jr. or Sr.) with the ladies. [26] In 2013, Lifetime aired a movie entitled Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story;[27] Porco sued in an attempt to block the release of the movie. TruTV Crime Library Article on the Porco case, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Peter_Porco&oldid=1138228108, This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 16:59. Buddies no help. He was also a troubled young man with a pension for burglarizing and lying. In 2011 the reboot series of Great Crimes and Trials made an episode about the case. Christopher was a bit of a brat child. AsForensic Filesexplained it, an injury can damagethe brains neocortex, which controls reasoning, but leave intact the underlying paleocortex, which guides second-nature habits. `It is not uncommon for patients after neurosurgery to have changes or lapses in their memory,` Spurgas testified. "[22], Defense attorney Terence Kindlon emphasized that the Bethlehem Police Department had no physical evidence linking Christopher Porco to the attack on his parents. amnesia.". [21] Nine months later, she wrote a letter for publication in the Albany Times Union in which she urged authorities to leave Christopher alone and "to search for Peter's real killer or killers, so that he can rest in peace and my sons and I can live in safety. Per the Times Union, Peter behaved as if nothing had happened to him or his wife. Peter sustained 16 devastating blows from the ax, only one of which, surprisingly, actually penetrated his skull. Upstairs in the master bedroom, Joan Porco, then 54, a beloved speech therapist in the Schalmont school district, remained motionless in bed. Shortly after, the Porcos were attacked. Joan went so far as to write letters to the Times Union, asking police to "go after the real killers." I was trying to get Christopher to come clean with information that he kept from us.". His legs are dangling off the end of the landing. Joan was lying in the bed with severe head and facial trauma. "We were doing everything we could think of and we were overcome by him," she said. He told his parents the school had agreed to cover his tuition because of the error. 2022 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 15, 2004, when their son Christopher Porco decided to butcher them brutally with a firemans ax while at sleep. [8], Trial testimony showed that on November 15, 2004, the Porco family's security code was used to disable the alarm system at their home. During the. The defense believes that, combined with Joan Porcos mental state immediately after the injuries when paramedics began treatment, make it impossible for her to know who committed the crime. "I'm concerned with these behaviors," Joan Porco wrote to her son. In fact, he even got out of bed and went about his morning routine in a macabre daze. For example, Porco lied to obtain both a car and tuition payments. Yeah seems like many cases on here. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union) Before paramedics took her to the hospital, Detective Christopher Bowdish questioned her about the attacker. `She was under anesthesia when I saw her,` said Spurgas. During breaks in the trial Monday, and after the jury had cleared from the courtroom, Joan Porco walked over to her son at the defense table. Where is henow? 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 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. Oh and this murder which is where the worst repercussions of spoiling end up. [9] A New York State Thruway toll collector outside Rochester said a yellow Jeep Wrangler with large tires passed through his station at about 10:45p.m. on November 14, and a collector in Albany recalled the "excessive speed" of a yellow Jeep Wrangler approaching the toll plaza shortly before 2a.m. on November 15. In March 2004, eight months before the attack, Joan and Peter Porco had learned their son was flunking his classes at Hudson Valley Community College when he was supposed to be earning high marks in order to return to the University of Rochester, which had kicked him out two months earlier for poor grades. Christopher Porco's distinctive yellow Jeep was a crucial part of the prosecution's case. He is currently living at the home of Elaine LaForte and her family in Glenmont. He was also doing tons of shit that he could have faced actual jail time over, including burglary, fraud, and forging his fathers signature on some major loans. One morning in late 2004, Peter and Joan Porco were discovered in their quiet suburban home with massive head injuries inflicted by an axe. Joan and Peter Porco, who died from his injuries, were found on Nov. 15, 2004, setting in motion an intensive 21-month investigation and the most widely followed murder case on record in this region. Kids Who Kill: Jon Venables and RobertThompson, Chilling Final Photos of Murder Victims Taken by TheirKillers, Karla and Paul: Barbie & Ken SexualPredators, UFO Religious Sect Heavens Gate MassSuicide, Dr. Sergei Brukhonenko & Experiments in the Revival ofOrganisms, Patty Hearst & Stockholm Syndrome: When Victims Form a Bond With TheirPerpetrators. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. I mean, youll only load it once, but, better than never!/s. Theme images by, Investigating the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979 - 1981, The Murderous Assaults of Peter and Joan Porco, The Porco family in the 1980s; Christopher is on the left, Joan and Chris, heading into court together. They found Joan in the blood-drenched bedroom, lying in bed and, remarkably, still alive. He needed another $30,000 once Rochester let him back in. The tall, nice-looking21-year-oldhad hoped to bail himself out of his financial problemsand cadge some disposable income via his mother and fathers life insurance payout. Mike Goodwin has been a stock broker, garbage man, and a house painter. I'd never heard that. In August, Christopher Porco was convicted by an Orange County jury of murdering his father Peter Porco with an ax and attempting to murder his mother Joan Porco during the overnight hours of Nov. 14 and 15, 2004, at their Brockley Drive home.Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25, three days before the CBS show's air date. 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. Peter Porco is laying on the landing to the stairway going upstairs. Family Ties (Forensic Files). Part of the problem stemmed from complaints from consumers who reported that Christopher had taken money from them for computers or other products but never delivered the goods as promised. The was blood everywhere a medical examiner later determined that 52-year-old Peter sustained massive head injuries causing his death. She too suffered the same grievous injuries to her face and head that her husband had endured - - a portion of her brain was actually exposed - - but she was conscious. 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 corporte FEI/EIN number is #85-2701626. It's horrible, isn't it? 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. Like her husband, she had been hitwith an ax, but only three times. Porco Murder In November 2004, someone with an ax walked into the bedroom where Peter Porco and his wife, Joan, were sleeping, expressly to kill them. [26], On August 2, 2006, the prosecution completed its case against Porco, and the defense's case, which was much briefer, began. First and foremost, the medical one. [18], On December 12, 2006, Judge Jeffrey Berry sentenced Porco to 50years to life on each count, totaling a minimum of 50years in prison. Heres the heart-breaking aspect of the trial: Joan Porco stood by her son througheverything. The two walked to court with their arms linked. It was a cold November night in 2004 when police responded to a disturbance at a suburban home in Delmar, New York. She also doesnt believe her son did it to her and has stuck by him this whole time. Case 187: Peter & Joan Porco 21,138 views Sep 4, 2021 505 Dislike Share Save Casefile Presents 54.3K subscribers DESCRIPTION In the early hours of Monday, November 15 2004, husband and wife Peter. He was perhaps oblivious to what had occurred and was running on adrenaline. As Forensic Files explained it, an injury can damage the brain's neocortex, which controls reasoning, . 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. Unaware he is suffering from a deadly attack or that his wife is bleeding to death by his bed, Peter gets up because he has a routine to follow. Joan Porco wrote in an e-mail in October 2004 that she was angry with Christopher because he had not returned more than 40 telephone calls from his brother, a Naval officer who was trying to iron out the eBay scandal. Joan was lying in the bed with severe head and facial trauma. "Your phone is temporarily suspended -- we can't get to you with important information and this SUCKS," Joan Porco wrote. He spent some time at his bathroom sink, loaded the dishwasher, packed a lunch, and wrote a check before collapsing at the front door. In November 2004, the unthinkable happened to Peter and Joan Porco. In 2006, the Porco case was the subject of an hourlong episode of CBS's 48 Hours. No fingerprints were recovered from the ax (which had previously been stored in the Porco's garage) found at the scene of the crime. Defense Attorney Laurie Shanks questioned Roberts' assessment of Joan Porco because of her poor physical condition at the time due to her injuries from the attack. 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"). Albert grows up thinking that his father died fighting for France in World War I. At the sentencing, Orange County Judge Jeffrey G. Berry cast aside Porcos request for leniency and also his plea for police to find the real killers, telling Porco he had violated one of lifes most sacred bondsby attacking his parents with an ax as they slept in the bedroom of their suburban home. Photo taken of Joan Porco after the attack Photo Source: Times Union (website) The amount of forensic and circumstantial evidence was over whelming. Instead of working out a plan to repay his parents, he tried to avoid them, then decided to kill them. Wow, thanks for that detail! Joan lost her left eye and suffered from multiple head fractures. There was also a theory involving organized crime. Joan believed Christopher was 100% innocent. All in all, Christopher was in the hole for at least$50,000 a lot of debt, butnotinsurmountable. Four months later, on July 22, Joan Porco wrote to Christopher again as debt notices for him were received at the Porcos' Delmar home. "Peter and Joan Porco are found after being bludgeoned with an axe as they sleep, Peter Porco was discovered dead from massive blunt head trauma at his front door. 358, P.C 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman. Rich kid with decent allowance kills super lenient parents for being a little strict or putting up boundaries. . ", "Christopher Porco, The College Student Who Chopped Up His Parents With An Ax After An Argument About Money", "Porco trial: Prosecutors point to unusual alarm logs", "Timeline, vet's words proved damning to Porco", "Timeline around murder includes text messaging, exit tolls", "EZ-Pass, forged transcripts focus of testimony", "Jurors see video of yellow Jeep leaving campus", "An unfamiliar face in a distant courtroom", "Former neighbor who saw Jeep testifies; prosecution rests", "Jury delivers quick verdict; Porco mom absent", "Christopher Porco gets maximum sentence; Convicted killer speaks for the first time", "Disabled mother of killer Christopher Porco loses pension case", Supreme Court will not hear Christopher Porco's appeal; Bethlehem man convicted of killing his father, assaulting his mother with an axe in '04, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh5SPILKVi8, "TV Review: 'Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story', "Christopher Porco wins minor court victory in TV movie case", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1iSCSRZrW8, Christopher Porco Murder Trial special report at timesunion.com. The video evidence came from the university. The neurosurgeon who operated on Joan Porco's skull fractures after the ax attack inside the Porco family's Brockley Drive home in November 2004, said her severe injuries could cause memory . 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. TV movie. Brendan Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com. Lindsay was taken to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth with broken bones in her back and ribcage - these injuries have left her paralyzed below the waist. `You certainly didnt ask Mrs. Porco any questions,` continued Shanks. Those who were reported to have testified in the closed-session hearing included Porco's friends from college, a university campus safety officer, and a former girlfriend.