Paramedic Alison Russo killing: Lawyers in court to prepare for trial of Peter Zisopoulos

It was a crime that shocked Long Island and New York City.

Alison Russo, 61, a lieutenant with the FDNY Emergency Medical Service from Huntington, was on her way to get a sandwich on Sept. 29, 2022, when she was knocked to the ground on an Astoria street corner, then stabbed multiple times before she died.

Her alleged assailant, Peter Zisopoulos, 36, lived not far from the crime scene. Zisopoulos — whose former attorney has said he has a history of schizophrenia — is believed by police to have attacked Russo without provocation.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled to appear in Queens State Supreme Court on Monday before Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant on what would have been the start of jury selection in the trial of Zisopoulos, who is charged with second-degree murder and criminal weapons possession. But after two recent postponements, the parties will attempt to work on a trial schedule.

Russo, also known as Alison Russo-Elling, died from what her family said were more than 20 stab wounds.

Police said that after stabbing Russo, Zisopoulos fled to his apartment around the corner on 20th Road, leaving his victim mortally wounded on the sidewalk. Members of the NYPD hostage negotiating team and emergency service unit finally coaxed Zisopoulos out of his apartment.

Russo was pronounced dead at a hospital. The attack was captured on surveillance video.

“He killed her and tore a hole in our hearts,” Russo’s father, Francis "Frank" Fuoco, said at Russo’s funeral. “He left her there on the street like a rag doll who was discarded.”

Defense attorney Jonathan J. Latimer, of the Queens Defenders, a group that takes criminal case assignments from the courts, didn’t return telephone messages and emails seeking comment about the case and how he intends to defend Zisopoulos.

Zisopoulos previously was defended by attorney Wilson LaFaurie, who handled the case as it made its way through the court system and various mental examinations aimed at determining if Zisopoulos was competent to stand trial and assist his attorneys in the defense.

Court records and LaFaurie, who is now retired, indicated that Zisopoulos was found at various times to not be fit to stand trial. But after more examinations in 2024, doctors determined that he was competent, meaning he understands the charges against him and can assist at trial.

Zisopoulos’ mother, Neophyta Zisopoulos, in a statement to Newsday released through her lawyer, Paul D. Petrus Jr., said she was asking the public not to jump to conclusions.

“I ask the public to remember that everyone is presumed innocent and to keep an open mind, especially when there are profound extenuating circumstances such as a history of mental illness involving the accused,” Neophyta Zisopoulos said in her statement. “Indeed, a head injury he sustained as a child may have contributed to or caused in part his mental illness.”

Due to the video evidence, the main thrust of the defense is expected to be that he suffered from a mental disease or defect at the time, according to LaFaurie, who spoke to Newsday earlier this month. If found not guilty by reason of mental defect, Zisopoulos could be kept in custody under state law for an indeterminate period of time.

Under state law, the burden is on the defense to prove the mental illness defense by the preponderance of the evidence, a lesser standard than beyond a reasonable doubt.

The original criminal complaint filed by police in September 2022 stated that Zisopoulos made “statements and admissions” that supported the murder charges, although the exact remarks are not found in a redacted court file. He also faces a weapons charge.

LaFaurie said police spoke with Zisopoulos for at least five hours after he was arrested but with no attorney present. During the interview, Zisopoulos was shown the video of the stabbing but, rather than make any admissions, said the scenes appeared fictitious, like a cartoon, and that Russo didn’t die, LaFaurie said.

“It was almost [like] something you have never seen before,” LaFaurie said last week about the police interview.

In a 2023 New York Post interview while in custody at Rikers Island, Zisopoulos was quoted as saying the stabber in the video was “a guy that looks like me stabbing her … they have phony pictures. They photoshopped it. I guess they really hate me.”

Russo was a well-liked member of EMS Station 49 of Astoria, just a few blocks from where she was attacked. Her funeral on Long Island drew hundreds of EMS and FDNY colleagues, many of whom are expected to attend the trial. Russo was promoted posthumously to the rank of captain.

Russo worked in her off hours for years for the Huntington Community First Aid Squad, and the unit’s members are also expected to attend the trial, as are Russo’s daughter, Danielle Fuoco, 43, of Shoreham, and Russo’s brother, Craig Fuoco, of Garden City.

Russo’s father, who lives in Commack, said he and his wife, Catherine, don’t plan to attend the trial.

Now 90, Francis Fuoco said attending the trial and seeing the defendant in person “is very stressful.”

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.