One of Connecticut’s safest towns has its first murder in 21 years, and it’s straight out of a horror movie
A man allegedly killed his father and left his organs outside his body in what his defense attorney called a “tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions,” which was also a sleepy Connecticut town’s first murder in more than 20 years.
Authorities responded to a caller who claimed to have hurt his father at a residence in Ridgefield around 1 a.m. Saturday, police said.
The responding officers were greeted by Steven James Uricchio, 31, who was outside the house with his hands in the air and wearing a dark blue shirt with boxer shorts, according to the police report obtained by the Hour.
The police instructed Uricchio — who was sweating profusely and appeared to have blood on his hands — to walk forward with his arms extended.
After authorities inspected the man for weapons, they asked him about his father, Marc Uricchio.“I murdered him,” Uricchio allegedly replied, adding that he had killed the older man “really, really badly.”
The investigators then entered the house, where they supposedly found drops of blood on the stairs and on both sides of the wall, the report said.
There was also a bloodied filet knife at the top of the stairs.
Marc Uricchio, 83, was discovered lying on the floor in his bedroom, police said.
The victim’s groin and abdomen were both mutilated, with some of his internal organs found outside his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Steven James Uricchio was taken into custody on murder charges, police said.
The grisly crime was Ridgefield’s first murder since 2003, police Capt. Jeffrey Raines told the News-Times.
The killing “shakes the town up. This is a very safe community,” he lamented.
A few hours after his arrest, Uricchio told officers he had stomach problems because he had taken a quarter of a bottle of Advil earlier.
Uricchio was transferred to Danbury Hospital, where he was evaluated by staff while handcuffed to a medical bed, according to authorities.
At the hospital, Uricchio told the doctors that he was prescribed a medication that he had not taken “in a month or two,” and that he regularly used cannabis.
He was discharged from the hospital and taken back to Ridgefield police headquarters on suicide watch.
Uricchio was arraigned on Monday in Danbury Superior Court, where he appeared nearly catatonic and had to be carried into the courtroom, the News-Times reported.
He slumped with his head on the defense table until the judge ordered him to stand, at which point he was nearly pulled to his feet by a nearby officer.
Uricchio’s defense lawyer Willie Dow told the court that his client had “significant mental health history.”
Dow agreed with the prosecution’s request for a competency evaluation, mental health treatment and continued suicide watch, all of which were approved by the judge.