North Bellmore man charged in fatal stabbing of wife after counseling session, records say

A North Bellmore man who pleaded not guilty to murder Monday in his wife’s slaying told  police that he stabbed the victim “once or twice” during an argument hours after a marriage counseling session, court records show.

Anthony Paruolo also told the couple’s 8-year-old son before leaving the family’s South Bismark Avenue home that night that the victim was hurt and he should stay in his room, a police account of his statements in the aftermath also shows.

A lawyer for Paruolo, 37, said during his client’s arraignment in Nassau County Court on charges of second-degree murder and child endangerment that he may pursue a psychiatric defense in the case.

“It seems that there was some type of extreme emotional disturbance that Mr. Paruolo suffered that evening,” Paruolo’s lawyer, David Haber, told Newsday after the proceeding.

The Mineola lawyer said he believed there was no prior history of domestic violence between the couple and added that his client has no criminal record.

Haber declined to comment further on his client’s alleged statements to authorities, which by law prosecutors must provide to the defense.

Police found an approximately 13-inch-long chef’s knife in victim Danielle Paruolo’s neck when they arrived at the home in response to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance around 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 6, prosecutors said Monday.

The 42-year-old wife and mother was dead and had stab wounds to her head, neck and torso, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said police found the child unharmed in another bedroom and arrested the husband at about 1:06 a.m. at the Kings Park home of a relative.

The defendant, a Town of Hempstead sanitation worker, also told police he lashed out with the knife two weeks after his wife, a social worker, served him with divorce papers, according to the court records.

They also show Paruolo told police he came home from work earlier on Oct. 6 and saw that his wife, who had left her email account open, had a messaging app in which she sent messages to other people about trying to get divorced and seeing other people.

That afternoon they took part in a virtual counseling session, with the violence only breaking out at about 10:30 p.m. during an argument in which the victim threatened to take their son and take Paruolo “for everything you got,” court records also indicate the defendant told police.

The records say the defendant recalled it was at that point he got angry, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and attacked his wife.

“I stabbed Danielle once or twice,” police said the defendant told them.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Robert Schwartz turned down a defense bid for bond and remanded Paruolo back to Nassau’s jail without bail Monday.

The judge also issued an order telling the defendant to stay away from the couple’s son after a request from prosecutor Ania Pulaski, saying such a protection was “certainly warranted in this case.”

Several members of the victim’s family who came to the arraignment declined to comment after court, as did the defendant’s mother.

“It’s really a horrible situation and we’re just going to continue investigating and see what the right resolution is in this matter,” Haber also told Newsday.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement Monday that Danielle Paruolo had called her sister hours before she died to tell her that she and her husband were getting a divorce.

“This horrendous crime has left a child without a mother. Our thoughts are with the victim’s family as we prosecute this case,” Donnelly added.

Paruolo’s next court date is Dec. 15.