Mum-of-two stabs 'courageous' firefighter husband through heart – and doesn't regret it

Tensions were moving precocious for Christine Ricci and her hubby Michael. They'd been trying to navigate the fallout of Michael’s infidelity but were tearing their household apart

Michael, 51, was an service seasoned and had been a firefighter with the Boston Fire Department for 23 years. He had raised 3 children with his woman Ricci, 2 sons and a daughter. In precocious 2018, Michael had been unfaithful. He’d had a six-week matter with a pistillate called Janeen Bouchard, who believed Michael was separated from his woman erstwhile she embarked connected the little relationship.

Ricci recovered retired aft the matter was over. She sent a substance to Janeen to archer her to enactment distant from her hubby but past followed it up demanding much details. She adjacent turned up doubly astatine Janeen’s location to face her, and the constabulary were called. Despite the betrayal, Ricci and Michael stayed unneurotic and tried to salvage their marriage. They attended therapy and adjacent renewed their vows successful 2019. Michael admitted helium had a drinking occupation and started attending meetings. However, successful January 2021, the strain successful the narration was evident to everyone.

Ricci, past 46, was consumed by Michael’s matter and her jealousy was relentless. She perpetually questioned her husbands for details astir his cheating, and erstwhile helium didn’t springiness her the answers she wanted, she would get aggressive. Michael had been seen by colleagues with bruises and scratches. Once, helium adjacent had a breached nose.

It was wide that portion Ricci had remained successful the marriage, she hadn’t forgiven, and she surely hadn’t forgotten. Even her children noticed she was becoming progressively aggressive.

On the day of January 28, 2021, a 911 telephone was made from the Ricci home. It was Ricci’s 16-year-old girl reporting that her dada needed aesculapian assistance aft a fall.

When exigency services arrived connected the scene, Ricci was hysterically shouting. Michael was unconscious connected the floor, connected his backmost with nary evident signs of injury. Ricci said he’d collapsed truthful CPR was started. But past the constabulary saw a five-inch steak weapon connected the level with humor connected it. Michael had been stabbed.

Offices consecutive distant thought it was antithetic that she hadn’t alerted paramedics to the stab wounds. The close attraction was important successful those captious archetypal minutes.

Ricci admitted that they’d been arguing, and she’d grabbed a knife. She described however they’d wrestled, and Michael had someway fallen connected the knife. He was rushed to hospital, but helium tragically died from his injuries.

Michael had been stabbed successful the thorax and the leaf had penetrated his heart, causing astir fractional of his full humor measurement to excavation into his thorax cavity. He’d besides been stabbed successful the backmost of his near shoulder, and determination was a slash coiled to his back.

Ricci was questioned. She admitted that she had been arguing with her hubby aft he’d travel successful from shovelling snow. She claimed helium was having a ‘manic episode’ and retired of fear, she had grabbed the room weapon to support herself. Ricci was charged with her husband’s murder.

At Michael’s funeral, helium was remembered arsenic a courageous firefighter who loved sportfishing and stone music. Firefighters lined the thoroughfare and carried his coffin.

At the proceedings successful July this year, the prosecution said that the mates had argued. They said that Michael’s matter had angered Ricci, and she had been wounded and jealous. It had resulted successful a signifier of maltreatment that escalated until Michael was fatally stabbed.

Friends and colleagues testified that they’d seen Michael with abdominous lips and achromatic eyes. His erstwhile person Janeen testified that Ricci had relentlessly contacted her aft the matter had ended and had turned up to her location ‘yelling and screaming’.

Michael’s son, Michael Jr besides testified that his mum brought up the matter astir daily. It became truthful stressful that helium moved retired of the location successful June 2019. The girl who called 911 said she was ‘used to’ her parents arguing. On the nighttime of the killing, she had been successful her country and hadn’t reacted to her parents shouting due to the fact that it was truthful commonplace. She lone realised it was thing superior erstwhile her mum yelled for her to telephone 911. Two years of resentment had ended with a fatal 15-minute attack.

The defence said that Ricci had the weapon arsenic she was attempting to support herself from a ‘manic episode’ that had been going connected for respective days. They said determination was a struggle, and the mates had stumbled and arsenic Michael lunged, had fallen afloat unit onto the knife. They said it was an mishap and her hysteria afterwards was impervious she didn’t mean to termination her husband.

But the prosecution reminded the tribunal that Ricci hadn’t told the archetypal responders astir the stabbing erstwhile they arrived.

Instead of trying to get her hubby the champion aesculapian attraction possible, she’d tried to screen it up. If helium had fallen connected the knife, however would that explicate the 2nd stab coiled and the slash wounded connected his back? Michael besides had antiaircraft wounds connected his hands.

No witnesses could corroborate that Michael was having a manic occurrence successful the lead-up to his decease – oregon had ever had one.

‘The lone mode to enactment an extremity to the anger, jealousy and rage that consumed her was to enactment an extremity to the idiosyncratic who caused that pain,’ the prosecution told the jury.

After a six-day trial, Ricci, 49, was convicted of second-degree murder, and battle and artillery with a unsafe weapon. In August, Ricci was sentenced and loved ones gave affectional statements.

Michael Jr spoke tenderly astir his father. ‘My dada was and inactive is my hero,’ helium said. ‘He was the idiosyncratic I looked up to and I tried to unrecorded my beingness the mode helium did. He was that changeless illustration to maine to unrecorded my beingness selflessly... We person years of healing we person to do. It’s going to instrumentality a batch of time, a batch of tears and perseverance, but we person to bash it unsocial betwixt maine and my siblings.’

Michael’s brother, William, said that Ricci was abusive and convulsive and had betrayed them. ‘We were successful utter daze and dismay,’ helium said, describing uncovering retired that his member had been killed. ‘Our household did not expect to aftermath up that greeting and person our loved 1 taken distant from america truthful abruptly and successful specified a horrific way.’

The justice said that Ricci had shown nary signs of remorse for sidesplitting Michael and said that it had been a ‘cycle of escalating abuse.’ Ricci was sentenced to beingness successful situation with the anticipation of parole aft 20 years. She was besides sentenced to six years for battle and artillery with a unsafe weapon.

Ricci continued to punish her husband, and their matrimony became toxic. She blamed him for the troubles successful their relationship, but it was her jealousy and abusive behaviour that caused the last bloodshed.