YONKERS MAN SENTENCED IN wife’s murder

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that Mario Girau (DOB 07/22/38) of 140 Tuckahoe Road, Yonkers, New York was sentenced today to an indeterminate sentence of fifteen years to life in state prison on his November 2008 guilty plea to one count of Murder in the Second Degree, a class “A” Felony relating to the death of his wife, Maria Montalvo-Girau.

On October 19, 2007 at approximately 1:00 PM Yonkers police responded to a 911 call from the victim’s daughter stating that she had found a dead body in their Yonkers home.

Police arrived at the scene and found the victim’s body with approximately 30 stab wounds to her back, chest and abdomen and blunt force trauma wounds to her head and neck.

The defendant then fled the scene with their six year old son who was in the home at the time of the killing.

Girau was apprehended in the Bronx after being involved in a motor vehicle accident.

In the course of the investigation, bloody clothing was found in a waste basket in the couple’s home.

The victim’s blood was also found on the defendant’s shoes and foot during police questioning.

Police also discovered that, by living with the victim, the defendant was in violation of a January 2007 order of protection issued against him, in favor of the victim.

Assistant District Attorney Lana Hochheiser, Deputy Chief of the Major Case Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Nadine Nagler of the Super Court Trial Division prosecuted the case.

Mario Girau