Mastic man guilty of woman's 2009 fatal stabbing

A Mastic man was found guilty Friday of second-degree murder in the October 2009 stabbing death of a woman authorities say he had been stalking for months.

Guenter Wende, 44, stood stoically in the Riverhead courtroom as the jury chairwoman announced the verdict in the killing of Laura Pizzini, 25, in her Mastic apartment.

Family members of both Pizzini and Wende left the courtroom in tears. Pizzini's father said he was too upset to talk. But her uncle, Bob Dovale, said the family was "elated" the jury found the defendant guilty, which gives them some closure.

"We'd give anything to have her back with us, especially for the holidays," he said.

The Wende family did not comment, but Wende's attorney, Jason Bassett, said they plan to appeal.

"Mr. Wende has always and consistently maintained his innocence, and we'll very vigorously pursue his appellate rights," Bassett said, adding that the defendant has "the full support of his family."

The trial went on for five weeks, with 38 witnesses and 138 pieces of evidence. Deliberations lasted four days.

"The jury had lots of common sense and followed the evidence," District Attorney Robert Biancavilla said as he left the courtroom.

During the trial, Bassett said there was a lack of physical evidence tying Wende to the crime, and claimed the signed confession was beaten out of his client by detectives. Detectives denied that allegation in their testimony, saying the welts on Wende's face visible in his mug shot were self-inflicted.

Biancavilla explained the lack of Pizzini's blood on Wende, telling the jury that she bled internally after being stabbed twice in the torso.

Pizzini and Wende were intimate once, but when she told him she didn't want to see him, he stalked her, according to testimony. Wende followed her to work, would stare at her while she was at her favorite bar and became agitated when she was in the company of other men, Biancavilla said during the trial.

Bassett maintained that police didn't investigate Pizzini's recent boyfriends as potential suspects, instead zeroing in on Wende.

With Andrew Smith