4 Alb. Govt. L. Rev. 905 (2011)
David Szalda
On the morning of November 15, 2004, the quiet Albany suburb
of Delmar, New York, awoke to the news of the murder and
attempted murder of Peter and Joan Porco, respectively. Sometime in the night, while the two were sleeping, an intruder
entered their home and savagely attacked the sleeping couple
with an ax. Hours later, police investigators and paramedics
arrived at the Porco residence to discover Mr. Porco murdered
and Mrs. Porco in her bed barely surviving her traumatic head
injuries. Soon after his arrival on the scene, Police Detective
Bowdish began his investigation of the attack. Eventually, the
investigator asked Mrs. Porco if her son Christopher had done
this to her and her husband. As the investigator and paramedics would later testify, Mrs. Porco responded with an up-and-down “nod,” signaling, yes.