ABSTRACT
Who is more likely to hurt us, a stranger, a coworker, a neighbor, a friend, or an intimate partner? Michael DeMaio, age 55, lived with his wife, Dianne DeMaio, a mother of three children, in an affluent neighborhood in Greenwich, Connecticut. On September 10, 2013, at around six in the evening, police were dispatched to their $7.3 million mansion. Police arriving at the scene found Dianne DeMaio in an upstairs closet, lying on the floor motionless in a pool of blood, with significant injuries to her head. Her mother was in the house and told officers that Michael DeMaio was a monster and that he had attacked her. Michael DeMaio told police that he had gotten into an argument with her when he viciously beat her with a baseball bat in the head, claiming he was really angry and just “lost it.” Dianne DeMaio was transported to the hospital in critical condition, with possible permanent brain damage due to her injuries. Her husband was charged with attempted murder and first degree assault.1
