Police: Conn. man who fatally stabbed girlfriend drove her to police station, confessed
Hartford officers took custody of the man and rushed to give aid to the woman until EMS arrived
By Christine Dempsey
The Middletown Press
HARTFORD, Conn. — A city man is in custody on $1.5 million bail after he fatally stabbed his girlfriend and drove her to the police station to turn himself in, officials said.
Pedro Grajalez, 52, of Campfield Avenue, was charged with murder after the deadly Sunday stabbing, Hartford Police Lt. Aaron Boisvert said. He is accused of killing Nilda Rivera, 57, of New Britain, who Grajalez said was his girlfriend.
According to Boisvert, Grajalez came into the Hartford Police Department lobby about 3:20 p.m. Sunday and walked up to officers at the front desk.
Grajalez said "he had just stabbed his girlfriend, and that she was in a vehicle parked in front of the police department," Boisvert said in a news release.
The officers took custody of the man and rushed to the car, where they found a woman later identified as Rivera unresponsive, with "multiple injuries," Boisvert said. They attempted lifesaving measures until medics arrived.
Rivera was taken by ambulance to Saint Francis Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to Boisvert.
Police believe the stabbing happened in the car when it was in the 200 block of Murphy Road in the South Meadows.
Boisvert said Monday that it is "highly unusual" for a suspect to not only confess, but to bring the victim — and evidence — to police.
The homicide is the sixth of the year in Hartford and the first that claimed a female victim.
Rivera also is the first victim who didn't die from gunfire.
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