A Long Island man who admitted stabbing his wife in front of their teenage son earlier this year has been sentenced to 22 years to life in prison, officials announced Thursday.
Ryszard Murawski of Lindenhurst is accused of stabbing Wioleta Murawski with a “large, serrated knife” on Jan. 3 and then fleeing the scene.
The brutal attack, which was captured on security camera video, was also witnessed by the couple’s 15-year-old son, who called 911 begging for help “as he desperately tried to save his mother’s life,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said in a news release.
Last month the 44-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis.
His sentence was handed out on Thursday.
“Domestic violence is a scourge that tears families apart and leaves immeasurable trauma in its wake,” Suffolk County District Attorney Tierney said in a news release. “When abusers use violence to exert power and control, it destroys lives and shatters communities. No one should ever have to experience the pain and loss that comes from such senseless acts.”
According to Tierney, the couple’s son told authorities he heard his mother screaming when he returned home from a friend’s house that night.
As the 15-year-old attempted to intervene, his mother managed to break free. She “stumbled across the street before collapsing with her son by her side.”
She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Suffolk County Police went after Ryszard Murawski’s vehicle. A high-speed police chase followed, with multiple units pursuing him for more than seven miles. He was arrested after crashing into the side of a building.
Wioleta Murawski was described on GoFundMe as “a wonderful mother, sister (and) friend” and “an amazing colleague who could always be relied on.”
According to the fundraiser organizer, funds would help with expenses to transport her body back to her native Poland.