Darien woman tells harrowing story of boyfriend's murder
What started as a quiet Friday night - with carryout food and a movie for a Darien mother, her young daughter and the woman's new boyfriend - ended with the boyfriend dead and the woman spending the night pleading for her life as her daughter slept.
Kristina Baltrimaviciene, 30, took the stand Tuesday to testify against her ex-boyfriend, Joseph Spitalli, in the 2012 slaying of Teymur Huseynli, 31, of Skokie.
Baltrimaviciene testified Huseynli was leaving her apartment on the 7700 block of Wildwood Court in Darien, at 12:25 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2012. Spitalli, whom she had dated and lived with earlier in the year, appeared from the darkness demanding money for rent.
She said she told him she had no money and to not cause any problems and, after a brief pushing match between the men, Spitalli departed.
But, Baltrimaviciene said, he quickly reappeared.
"I turned around and (Spitalli) wrapped his arms around (Huseynli's) neck. I raised my hand up and felt a sharp pain in my fingers," she testified through a Russian interpreter. "I felt hot blood hit me and I told (Huseynli) to run. He ran toward the front of the building and fell down."
At that point, she saw Spitalli holding the kitchen knife that had cut her.
"I started screaming but he told me to shut up or he was going to kill me, and he pulled me to his car" she said. "He said he was now going to kill both of us but I told him 'I have a child. You have a child. Think about that.'"
Baltrimaviciene said Spitalli drove around Darien, holding the knife, for some time before she convinced him to "get rid of it" in a trash bin near her apartment. He then concocted his alibi.
She said she promised Spitalli that if he spared her, she would tell authorities whatever he wanted. Spitalli then devised a story that she and Husynli were attacked by "two black men who jumped from the bushes" and that she ran to his home, which they previously shared, for help.
He then took her to his parents home on the 8S060 block of Washington Street, near Darien, where they told Spitalli's parents the story, and Spitalli's father called 911.
It was while she sat on Spitalli's parents' couch, being treated for the cut to her hand, that she said she whispered to a Darien paramedic, "He killed him."
The paramedic testified he stepped outside and relayed the information to police.
After having her hand washed and bandaged, Baltrimaviciene asked to step outside to "get some fresh air."
"There was a paramedic having a cigarette and I asked if he had one for me. When I got near to him, I asked for help," she said. "I said 'Hide me in the (ambulance). He really did kill someone.'"
Testimony resumes Wednesday morning and prosecutors expect the trial to last the rest of the week.