while searching for the person responsible for the brutal axe attack, investigators first tried to uncover the motive. we don t have axe murderers here. it was just an alarming, tremendously alarming case. police learn that peter porco had a relative in organized crime who d been in trouble with the law. the relative is frank porco, known as frankie the fireman porco. frankie was serving time in federal prison for loan sharking. there were rumors that frankie porco would provide state s evidence and information in return for a lighter sentence. it was what they call a signature killing, you know, that the mob would do, and it was a fireman s act because it was retaliation for frankie the fireman. frankie the fireman put doubt on this theory. he was in prison because he wasn t a snitch. and he had been made offers to cooperate with authorities to avoid prison, and he didn t, so he ended up in prison. then investigators learned
porco had once received a death threat. it was from a man who lost custody of his children in a case before the new york state supreme court. the man had vowed revenge. the man told him he was going to get a gun and he was going to come and kill the judge and peter porco. but that man had an alibi for the night of the murder. then there was an anonymous letter sent to the local newspaper from someone claiming to be peter porco s killer. peter porco was not even a challenge. once i got inside, i repeatedly hit him in the head and neck with a small axe i brought with me. i ignored all his pleading screams. also, i beat joan porco, but unfortunately, she survived. the writer took credit for another local murder and warned
i am absolutely positive that my son was in no way involved in this heinous crime. i implore the district attorney s office to leave my son alone and to search for peter s real killer. and the forensic evidence or lack of it corroborated christopher s story. investigators found nothing in christopher s jeep. the yellow jeep was searched for blood and/or bloody clothing, any type of blood transfer whatsoever which would be indicative of the attack. there was no blood located in the vehicle whatsoever. police also found no evidence that christopher had been on the highway between his school and his home. there was no recording of his e-zpass going through the tolls that night. forensic analysts found no fingerprints or blood other than the victims on the axe. then police learned that peter
upstairs in the master bedroom was his wife, joan, who was still alive, but just barely. a three-foot axe was right next to her. to give oxygen, they were supposed to put a bag over her mouth, and they couldn t figure out where her mouth was. joan was rushed to the hospital, her life hanging in the balance. blood spatter analysis showed that joan porco was struck three times in the head with the axe while sleeping. peter porco had been struck 16 times in the head. but why was peter s body found downstairs? apparently, some time after the attack, peter regained consciousness and started to go about his morning tasks. he had actually pulled on some clothes over top of some wounds and began walking around the house. that s because the top part of peter s brain, the neocortex, which controls higher functions like thought, language and reasoning, was severely damaged in the attack.
to the campus in full view of the cameras at 8:30 a.m. perhaps the most unsettling aspect of the case was that peter porco regained consciousness and walked through the house after the attack, even going outside for the morning paper before he died in the foyer. there still remain unanswered questions. i think one of the main questions that we just don t have the answer to is where are the bloody clothes? and why did joan porco implicate christopher on the morning of the attack, but had no recollection of it following surgery? it s not uncommon when you have a head injury to lose memory in the time surrounding the event.