Mastic, NY: Mastic ex-boyfriend charged in woman's stabbing death

October 20, 2009 by ANDREW STRICKLER / andrew.strickler@newsday.com


The Mastic woman found stabbed to death in her apartment was killed by a man with whom she'd broken off a relationship, Suffolk police said Tuesday.

Detectives arrested Guenter Wende, 42, in his home at 15 Dana Ave. in Mastic Monday night and charged him with second-degree murder in the death of Laura Pizzini, 25.

Pizzini's stepfather discovered her bloodied body in her Neptune Avenue apartment early Friday afternoon. She had been stabbed several times.


Police believe the pair met in July and had a relationship she ended in August. But in the following weeks, he repeatedly showed up at her work or found her as she walked home or at a bar they frequented, said Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick.

"He's been trying to rekindle this relationship, but she's been uninterested," he said.

Police believe Wende went to her apartment Wednesday night.

"He knocked on her door, he quickly entered and he stabbed her," Fitzpatrick said. "He brought the murder weapon to the house."

Police said he made "incriminating statements."

Police had said that the attack did not appear to be random: There were no signs of forced entry at her apartment in a converted garage, and nothing was believed to be missing from the apartment.

Pizzini worked as a cashier at Forge River Nursery Home and Garden Center on Montauk Highway in Mastic and had been a member of the Mastic Volunteer Ambulance Company's youth squad.

Wende, who is single, works as a carpenter.

His mother, Ursula, of Mastic Beach said she'd never heard of Laura Pizzini. She said she last spoke with her son by phone Friday.

"It was his birthday, so we called to wish him a happy birthday," she said. "He said he wanted to come by sometime. He was all right."

When told Pizzini had been stabbed to death, she said, "I can't believe that. I can't believe he'd do that."

Neighbor Dennis O'Brien said police had used canine units to search nearby woods late Friday afternoon. He said they also seized surveillance tapes from a local bar that Pizzini frequented, Good Friends Bar & Grill.

"She was a great kid," her step-uncle, Bob Dovale, 44, said last week outside Pizzini's mother's home in Mastic.