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Presti family vents anger and anguish at convicted killer
By GORDON VINCENT news@woburnonline.com

WOBURN - In emotional, heart-rendering testimony at Middlesex Superior Court on Thursday, members of the Presti family vented three years of anger and anguish at Michael Bizanowicz, the man convicted of killing West Woburn residents Joanne and Alyssa Presti.

Perhaps the most distressing victim impact statement was given by Pete Presti, Joanne's brother and the adoptive father of Joanne's younger son, Sean.

Sean was 2 1/2-years-old and lived with his mother and 12-year-old sister Alyssa in their Totman Drive apartment at the time they were killed by Bizanowicz. Joanne's parents found the boy dehydrated and hungry, but unharmed, in his crib two days after the murders.

"There is part of him that is troubled," said Pete Presti, who added Sean suffers from reactive attachment disorder. Sean does not like to be left alone and often cries when he is dropped off at school.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Geraldine Hines eventually sentenced Bizanowicz, 44, a convicted level 3 sex offender whose last address was in Lowell, to concurrent life sentences at MCI-Cedar Junction for the murders, plus an additional 25-40 years for the aggravated rape of Joanne Presti on Jan. 5, 2004.

Joanne Presti's parents, Peter and Annette, her three brothers, Pete, Steve and Mark, and cousin Marie Presti Cunniff all gave victim impact statements before sentencing.

Also on hand in the packed court room were many other members of the Presti family, their friends, Totman Drive neighbors, three members of the jury that convicted Bizanowicz, and Woburn Police Det. Timothy Donovan, who was involved in the investigation.

Shackled, handcuffed and wearing a gray prison uniform instead of the shirt and tie he wore throughout the trial, Bizanowicz showed no emotion when the sentence was handed down, nor when members of the Presti family occasionally him in the eye during victim impact testimony.

Victim impact

In the briefest statement that was given, Mark Presti - Joanne's youngest brother - issued a challenge to Bizanowicz to "not be a coward and finish what you started" in a presumed suicide note to his daughter written hours after he committed the murders. The note turned out to be an important piece of evidence for the prosecution.

"Rid the world of your evil and take your own life," said Mark Presti.

Pete Presti, Joanne's older brother, spoke poignantly and emotionally about Sean, who he and his wife adopted.

"He knows he had another mom named Joanne and a sister, and they were murdered by an evil man named Michael," said Pete Presti.

According to his adoptive father, Sean is a "bright and articulate 5-year-old child," despite his "overwhelming sense of loss."

Pete Presti said Sean often draws scribbles, which his adoptive father often wonders are references to his memory of Alyssa being chased upstairs to her bedroom, where she was murdered after witnessing the attack on her mother in the first floor living room.

"We don't know how much he saw, or how much he remembers," said Pete Presti.

When the guilty verdicts came down on Tuesday, Pete Presti said he talked to Sean on the phone, and the boy thanked him for "getting that bad man."

Presti passed along the compliment to the police, prosecutors, and "everyone who helped put 'that bad man' in prison, until he dies."

Steve Presti spoke about his niece Alyssa, whom he referred to as a "perfect child; sweet and easy to please." He recalled taking her to a NASCAR race and being surprised at how much she enjoyed the event.

He noted Alyssa would now be 16, "about done with high school," and looking forward to college. Like her mom, Alyssa "loved kids, and wanted to be a pediatrician."

Since the murders occurred four days after the New Year in 2004, the holiday season now has a different meaning for the Presti family, Steve Presti said.

"There are not enough tears we can cry," said Steve Presti. "All we can do is keep (Joanne and Alyssa) in our minds, hearts and souls forever."

Steve Presti also said that if the commonwealth had "improved sex offender laws" at the time the murders too place, his niece and sister "would still be with us today."

As a level 3 sex offender, Bizanowicz was required to register with police at his primary address in Lowell, but not in Woburn, though he lived for about 10 months on Totman Drive with a former girlfriend who was a close friend and neighbor of Joanne Presti's.

Lobbying by the Prestis helped change the law, which now requires level 3 offenders to register in any community in which they live longer than 14 days.

Cunniff recalled the close relationship she had with Joanne Presti when they were children, and though they "grew apart somewhat" as adults, she "always loved her."

She lamented that Joanne will never see Alyssa graduate from high school, along with all the other milestones her children and other family members will achieve.

Cunniff also referenced the stunning cruelty of the crimes, which she said were done for "no good reason."

"He (Bizanowicz) belittled Joanne," said Cunniff. "Rape was the worst thing he could have done to her. He made her suffer in her last hour."

She also said she imagined Joanne's "complete horror" at knowing her assailant was going after Alyssa next.

After the murders, Cunniff said she felt "intense fear" for the next six months, even in her own home.

"I didn't trust any males, even my own husband," she said.

As for Bizanowicz, she urged Hines to incarcerate him for the rest of his life.

"He cannot be rehabilitated," said Cunniff. "He's a disturbed individual."

She also placed some blame on the commonwealth for not adequately recognizing the danger that Bizanowicz presented.

"He should have never been allowed to walk free without the necessary supervision," said Cunniff.

Parents

Annette Presti spoke of the horror of finding her only daughter murdered on a couch in her living room, and how there's a "video in my head that will forever be embedded."

"You have no idea what it's like for a mother to find her daughter brutally stabbed, not once, but seven times," said Annette Presti.

The one thing no parent ever expects, she said, is to have to bury a child and a grandchild.

"They were supposed to live long and happy lives, long after their parents are gone," she said. "Never did I think evil would come to their lives, and that evil is Michael Bizanowicz."

In the months after the murder, "it was a struggle to find a reason to survive each day," and she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and has undergone bereavement counseling.

"There were times I truly wanted to die," said Annette Presti.

She called Bizanowicz "the personification of evil," and said she sat in sorrow each day during the trial looking at his hands, "the hands that last touched Joanne and Alyssa."

Bizanowicz, she said, "deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison," and urged Hines to sentence him to the "maximum penalty."

Joanne's father, Peter Presti, said Bizanowicz not only destroyed his daughter's family, but disgraced his own family by his offenses.

"He can't blame anybody else but himself," said Peter Presti. "He deserves the worst punishment, and I hope his life in prison is miserable and uncomfortable.

"And when god finally calls him, I hope he rots in hell," added Peter Presti.

In closing, Peter Presti looked Bizanowicz directly in the eye and, perhaps recalling how Alyssa courageously battled her murderer - who was half a foot taller and weighed twice as much as she - said the family was determined to see him put behind bars.

"There was one thing you didn't know," said Peter Presti. "What you didn't know is the Presti family, we don't quit."

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