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2009-03-05 12:45:09
By TRACIE CONE and GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writers Tracie Cone And
Garance Burke, Associated Press Writers
FRESNO, Calif. A man accused of killing his girlfriend was shot to death in a
Stockton courtroom Wednesday after he attacked the judge presiding over his
murder trial, officials said.
David Paradiso, 28, was shot by a police detective after he left the witness
stand and began attacking San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Cinda Fox
during a break in proceedings, said Dave Konecny, a spokesman for the sheriff's
department.
Paradiso took the stand to testify around 2 p.m. and was quickly asked by
prosecutors why he killed his girlfriend Eileen Pelt.
He responded: "Cause she deserved to die."
Paradiso's mother, Debra, stood up and started yelling, leading the judge to
call a recess. As jurors filed out, Paradiso left the stand and approached the
judge from behind "with an unknown cutting instrument," Konecny said.
Karen McConnell, a county spokeswoman, said witnesses reported seeing Paradiso
lift the judge and begin punching and possibly stabbing her when bailiffs ran
to her aid and shots rang out. Lodi Police Det. Eric Bradley has been placed on
administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated, city spokesman
Jeff Hood said.
"He was going after her jugular, just as he did to the victim in this case,"
his attorney, Chuck Pacheco, told the Lodi News-Sentinel. "He was not stopping
stabbing her, going for her neck. Bradley did the right thing."
Fox, who had a bandage on her left arm as she was carried out of the courthouse
on a stretcher, told reporters, "I'm OK," before being taken to a hospital. She
was released later Wednesday. Calls to her home were not immediately returned.
The courthouse immediately went on lockdown, although people were allowed to
leave after the building was secured, McConnell said.
Konecny said he did not know how Paradiso obtained a weapon. He said at least
two bailiffs were on duty in the courtroom at the time of the attack.
Paradiso was on trial for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend, Eileen Pelt, in
the neck as his mother drove them in her car. Debra Paradiso told police her
son forced her to drive to Amador County, where he dumped the body.
Paradiso's attorney, Charles Pacheco, said in opening arguments last week that
his client was high on methamphetamine at the time. Pacheco did not immediately
return a call Wednesday seeking comment.
Aaron Paradiso, the suspect's brother, told KCRA-TV of Sacramento that his
brother was "crazy" and said he had told authorities and attorneys that he
shouldn't be put on the stand. He said his mother had warned deputies that the
family believed Paradiso had a cutting weapon from some sort of clipper or
scissors.
Concerns about courthouse security have grown since 2005, when an unshackled
defendant being escorted into an Atlanta court for a rape trial stole a
deputy's gun and went on a shooting rampage. A jury found Brian Nichols, 37,
guilty in November of murdering the deputy, a judge and two others.