iPad Video Chat Catches Massachusetts Murder

May 8, 2012 — -- A Massachusetts man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death as their daughter's friend watched via an iPad video chat is being held in jail without bond today.

Christopher Piantedosi, 39, allegedly showed up at the Burlington, Mass., home of his longtime girlfriend Kristen Pulisciano's on Thursday and got into a raging argument with her in the kitchen.

The couple's 15-year-old daughter was in her bedroom video chatting with a friend on her iPad. She heard the commotion and went to check on her parents, according to authorities.

The girl found her father holding a knife and her mother fled to the girl's bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

"The defendant then kicked in the door, threw the victim on the bed and began stabbing her with a butcher knife and it was visible to the daughter's friend," Middlesex assistant district attorney Nicole Allain said in court.

The daughter's male friend witnessed the attack on video.

"He could hear the victim saying, 'Please, please,' and he could hear the daughter yelling, 'No! No!'" Allain said. "He then heard the defendant say, 'You've got to die. You've got to die.'"

The daughter rushed out of the house and called 911 while Piantedosi fled the scene.

When authorities arrived, they found Pulisciano's body with a knife still in her neck after being stabbed 34 times in the neck and chest, according to ABC News' Boston affiliate WCVB-TV.

He surrendered to Massachusetts State Police on Friday after a warrant was issued for his arrest and he was charged with one count of murder. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment at Woburn District Court on Monday.

"We allege that the defendant brutally and fatally stabbed the victim, a loving mother of two, inside her home," Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said in a statement. "We intend to hold him fully accountable for this unspeakable act of violence."

Stephanie Chelf Guyotte, spokeswoman for the Middlesex District Attorney, told ABCNews.com that the iPad is being studied and examined for forensic evidence.

A doctor told the court that Piantedosi has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had recently attempted suicide.

"We just don't understand it, and we hope to find answers. And she was like family to us," Piantedosi's uncle Pasquale Piantedosi told WCVB-TV. "I feel like I lost a niece, too, and now a nephew."

On Facebook, Pulisciano's daughter posted a photo of her with her mother and wrote, "im glad ur in heaven. no more crying. sorry for all those fights. i tried to help. it was [sic] to late. i love u forever."

Pulisciano's friends wrote an open letter to the Boston Herald about their late friend with the byline "The friends of Kristen Pulisciano."

"Kristen was a remarkable woman. She was a kind-hearted person who deserved all that life offered," they wrote. "She changed so much from when we were all silly teenagers in our small town. Kristen grew into a beautiful, intelligent, caring woman and dedicated mother."

Her friends wrote that Pulisciano had recently completed school for a career in the medical field and in addition to her daughter, she has a 20-year-old son.

"For her friends from North Reading, Kristen was much more than front page news, she was our friend. We feel so fortunate to have had this time with her. Our lives are better because we knew her. We will forever be touched by her giving spirit."

Last summer, Piantedosi made headlines when he robbed a woman's purse at a market in New Hampshire, according to WCVB-TV. He later mailed her wallet back to her and showed up at her house to return her $90, an extra $10, her stolen GPS with a new charger and a letter of apology signed "Stupid." Police dubbed him the "remorseful robber."

Piantedosi's next court appearance is scheduled for June 7.