Man, 70, gets life in prison for stabbing, bludgeoning wife to death in 2007

Rebecca Baker rebaker@lohud.com WHITE PLAINS - A 70-year-old Yonkers man who stabbed his wife 30 times was handed a prison sentence today that probably will keep him locked up for the rest of his life. Mario Girau, a retired merchant seaman, was ordered to serve 15 years to life behind bars for the 2007 slaying of Maria Montalvo-Girau, a mother of four who was a nurse for the blind. Girau pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. The plea spared the couple's young son - who was home and saw his mother's bloody body on the floor - from testifying at trial against his father. Girau, who is in failing health and was too weak to stand during today's court proceedings, will be 86 before he is considered for parole. Assistant District Attorney Lana Hochheiser said Girau stabbed his 46-year-old wife 13 times in the chest, nine times in the abdomen and eight times in the back. Girau also bludgeoned his wife with a mallet during the Oct. 19 attack in in their Tuckahoe Road home. After the slaying, Girau left with his then 6-year-old son in a 1994 Toyota, which prompted an "Amber Alert" to find the child. The boy was found after Girau crashed into a parked car on Hoe Avenue in the Bronx. The child, who was sleeping in the back seat, was unharmed and was turned over to other relatives. "Without the dogged investigative work by the Yonkers Police Department, we would not be here today," Hochheiser said. Hochheiser said Girau has shown no remorse for the murder and blames his stepchildren for what happened. When Westchester County Judge Robert DiBella asked Girau if he wanted to say anything before sentencing, Girau rambled about his health problems, including stitches, heart palpitations and psoriasis. "I'm an old man," he said. "I'm sorry. Thank you for listening to me." Girau had told Yonkers police that he didn't remember if he killed his wife, but said he did remember arguing with her about how much time she spent on the computer the night before she died. He also said he owned a 6-inch knife and that his wife's ex-husband left a mallet in the house. Two months before the murder, Yonkers police had arrested Girau for violating a January 2007 court order barring him from contacting his wife. She apparently allowed him back into the house, in violation of the judge's order, and he was living with her when she was killed.