5:13 PM Tue, Dec 21, 2010
Bryan Rourke
Providence Journal photos / Frieda Squires
Peter J. Pytka II, 40, of Cumberland, is arraigned Tuesday in District Court, Providence, charged with the murder of his wife, Tracey-Ann Pytka, 38.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Peter J. Pytka II, of Cumberland, was ordered held without bail Tuesday, charged with murdering his wife, Tracey-Ann, whom a prosecutor said had thrown her husband out of the house three weeks ago.
On Monday afternoon, prosecutor Shannon Signore said Tuesday during Pytka's arraignment, one witness reported seeing the couple both bloodied and fighting on the sidewalk of their bungalow at 29 Titus St.
Their teenage son would find his mother's stabbed body in the house Monday afternoon, said Signore, and the police later found the 40-year-old Peter Pytka sitting in his wife's car by the water in Pawtucket with a 45-pound weight attached to a handcuff. A picture of his wife was in the car.
Longtime friends of Tracey-Ann Pytka, Allison Fanning and Helio Avelar, speak to reporters Tuesday outside District Court in Providence after Pytka's husband was charged with her murder.
Outside the District Courthouse, friends of the 38-year-old victim said she had been physically and verbally abused by her husband for years.
"She was afraid of him," said Helio Avelar. "Always afraid of him and always intimidated by him."
The cause of death has not been disclosed and will not be determined until medical examiner's office completes its autopsy, Chief John R. Desmarais said earlier Tuesday.
"We have information to believe that Peter Pytka was the murderer," Desmarais said. "We still have more investigation and statements to take."
According to neighbors, Tracey-Ann Pytka worked as a dental hygienist and the couple has three children: two daughters, 6 and 8, and a son in high school.
The police received a 911 call around 2 p.m. Monday of a body reported at 29 Titus St.
-- with reports from Amanda Milkovits, Journal staff write
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