A Connecticut man spent months talking about killing his ex-girlfriend before stabbing her to death in her apartment, according to police.
New Haven Police Department officers arrested 41-year-old Matthew Almontes after responding to a distress call Wednesday from Tisha Marinoccio, 41.
Marinoccio contacted authorities to report that her ex-boyfriend had stabbed her inside her apartment and fled with the weapon. Emergency responders transported her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Almontes faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence. He remains in custody on a $1.5 million bond and is scheduled to make a court appearance on Aug. 26.
Police records obtained by the New Haven Register reveal that an employee at the 300 block Orange Street apartment complex — where both Almontes and Marinoccio lived in separate units — reported that Almontes had talked about stabbing the victim over the course of six months. The worker informed investigators that Almontes had grown obsessed with Marinoccio and was experiencing “mental deterioration.”
open image in galleryTwo days before to the killing, Almontes made a direct threat to the building employee, the New Haven Register reported.
“I’m going to kill her,” Almontes allegedly told the worker Monday. “I’m gonna stab her and they’re not gonna find a weapon.”
Following the attack, police found Almontes nearby and took him into custody. Investigators reviewed security camera footage from the property, which showed the suspect “entering and exiting the victim’s apartment as well as exiting the rear of the apartment building, where he discarded an unknown object inside the rear-alley dumpster.”
Officers later recovered the knife used in the attack inside that dumpster, according to police statements.
“Upon arrival, they located Marinoccio inside her apartment suffering from a stab wound,” the department stated.
Almontes declined to speak with investigators after his arrest.