The Associated Press
WOBURN, Mass. (AP) -- The family of a slain mother and daughter praised police and other law enforcement officials on Monday for the arrest of a Lowell man for the murders.
Michael Bizanowicz, 41, a registered sex offender in Lowell, was charged Friday with the slayings of Joanne Presti and her 12-year-old daughter Alyssa.
“We always had confidence that your attention to detail would lead to the apprehension of this criminal,” the Presti family said in a statement issued Monday. “We are pleased that he is off the streets and we know that justice will prevail.”
Bizanowicz allegedly sexually assaulted Presti, 34, before killing her and her daughter, 12-year-old Alyssa Presti, at their Woburn apartment. Investigators said Bizanowicz knew Joanne and Alyssa Presti through a mutual acquaintance, and had been to their home before.
Presti and her daughter were found dead Jan. 7. Presti’s 2 1/2-year-old son, Sean, was found in a crib in the apartment unharmed.
An autopsy determined that Joanne Presti was killed by blunt force trauma to her head and several stab wounds, while her daughter was stabbed in the neck.
Bizanowicz was arrested after seminal fluid taken from Joanne Presti’s body matched with his DNA on the state’s criminal offender database, Middlesex District Attorney officials said.
“Our family has faith in God that Joanne and Alyssa are in a better place and they are at peace knowing they will always be loved and cherished,” the family said. “The laughter and joy they brought to our family will be missed and can never be replaced.”