Video of FDNY EMT Alison Russo's fatal stabbing sends hush through Queens courtroom

Jurors and spectators in a packed Queens courtroom Tuesday watched in stunned silence as a video played depicting FDNY EMS Capt. Alison Russo of Huntington being stabbed to death on an Astoria street corner in September 2022.

The video, captured on a surveillance camera, shows a person who prosecutors allege is Peter Zisopoulos running toward Russo from behind on Sept. 29, 2022, as she unknowingly walks down a street just a block from her work station. The assailant knocks her down and then, in a frenzy of 22 blows, plunges a knife into her chest and torso as she lay defenseless on her back.

The approximately two-minute video capped a day of testimony from a half-dozen witnesses in the murder trial of Zisopoulos in Queens State Supreme Court. The video is the centerpiece of the prosecution's evidence in the case being presented by Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Selkowe and Siranoush Nalbandian.

On Monday, jurors heard sounds of the attack recorded by a different surveillance camera.

Zisopoulos, 36, a man experts said was mentally ill at the time of the fatal stabbing, appeared to show no emotion as the video played in the courtroom.

Russo’s daughter, Danielle Fuoco, 43, of Shoreham, held her head in her hands and sobbed softly as the grisly scene unfolded on screen, comforted by EMS colleagues of her mother.

"Disturbing," Fuoco said later. "I keep saying that."

On the video, Russo shows few signs of life other than the slight movement of her left arm.     

Earlier in the day, auto mechanic Jaanki Oomraw, 43, described for jurors how he saw Zisopoulos running down 20th Avenue with a knife in pursuit of a man on a scooter who had apparently seen the attack on Russo. Oomraw said that after Zisopoulos circled back, the mechanic followed him toward where Russo lay.

" 'What ... did you do?' " Oomraw said he yelled at Zisopoulos, who slowly walked away.

Oomraw testified he next turned his attention to the wounded EMT.

"Hold on," he said he told Russo. "I will get you help."

She was bleeding heavily from her chest area and a wound in her side, Oomraw said, adding that Russo's breathing was labored.

"She was just gasping for air," he testified.

Oomraw, who said he did not witness the attack, then went to Russo’s nearby EMS station a block a way and got help from personnel there who rushed to her aide. However, Russo, according to earlier witness testimony, appeared deceased.

In the prosecution's opening statement, Selkowe described Russo’s wounds as penetrating her heart, lungs and other organs.

After the attack, Zisopoulos is seen on video heading back to his apartment just steps away from where Russo lay dying. 

Police emergency service unit personnel then converged on his apartment. According to the testimony of NYPD Det. Kevin Costello, police tried for an hour to coax Zisopoulos out of his cramped unit but he refused.

Finally, EMS officers used a special hydraulic device to open the door and then break the chain with a bolt cutter to get Zisopoulos to surrender, Costello said on the stand. Investigators later recovered a knife from Zisopoulos’ pants pocket and noticed he had a bloody hand, the detective said. The entire series of events at the apartment was captured on police body cameras and shown to the jury.

Selkowe told Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant that he expected to call a DNA expert to testify Thursday about a mixture of genetic material from Zisopoulos and Russo connected to the crime scene.

The graphic video shown Tuesday was authenticated by NYPD Det. Daniel Spies who canvassed the area for surveillance videos shortly after the Sept. 29 attack.

Defense attorneys Jonathan Latimer and Gina Mitchell asked few questions on cross-examination Tuesday. In her opening statement Monday, Mitchell didn’t dispute that Russo was killed but asked jurors to look closely as to whether Zisopoulos showed the required intent to kill to satisfy the second-degree murder statute. Zisopoulos is also charged with criminal possession of a knife, in his case, a five-inch blade.

In pretrial proceedings, two court-appointed experts found Zisopoulos unfit to stand trial since he appeared delusional and psychotic. The defendant has maintained that the videos are fakes.

Pandit-Durant found Zisopoulos legally fit to stand trial and noted that he had refused to invoke the affirmative defense of mental illness at the time of the crime.

In court Monday, Latimer indicated that Zisopoulos might want to take the stand in his own defense. If he were to testify, it wouldn’t happen until Friday.

The trial is set to resume Thursday. Pandit-Durant indicated that summations could take place Monday. Zisopoulos faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the murder charge.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.