Andrea Wilmont talks with reporters after her attacker, Christopher Amaral is sentenced to the maximum, 20 years for stabbing her 20 times. With her is her mother, Colleen and her sisters. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News
By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
A judge Tuesday sentenced a Bristol man to the maximum, 20 years in state prison for stabbing a co-worker more than 20 times after she spurned his advances.
Police and prosecutors said that Christopher Amaral, 35 stalked Andrea Wilmont after she rejected his attempts to develop a romantic relationship when they worked together at a supermarket. She was 20 at the time, in July, 2011.
He stabbed her outside her Cranston home at least 20 times, leaving her with permanent, painful injuries, she said in a lengthy retelling to the court.
“I felt every blow,” Wilmont said. “The knife went right into my neck, which fractured my C4 vertebrae. The second went into the back of my head, which tapped my brain, leaving the knife tip inside my skull. That was when I fell to the ground, still screaming. My neighbors heard my screaming and described it as a blood curdling scream. I remember watching his arm go up and down as he kept stabbing me, leaving me with 21 stab wounds, but at the time, even the hospital couldn’t get a good count. Then he ran.”
In great detail, she described her treatment and efforts at recovery.
Through his attorney, Amaral offered an apology, but said nothing during the sentencing.
“This defendant is a very dangerous man whose obsessive, violent conduct has accelerated,” said Judge Netti Vogel. “He’s a dangerous predator.”
She sentenced him to serve all 20 years of the maximum sentence at the Adult Correctional Institutions, to pay restitution as well as Wilmont’s medical costs.
She also took Wilmont to task for ignoring two court orders that she and Amaral stay away from each other. “She came and asked for the court order on two occasions,” said Judge Vogel.
“We gave her the court protection and she initiated contact with him. I have reviewed those private Facebook communications. I reviewed the contents of them, I reviewed what she said in the victim impact statement, and the one thing that I’ve never seen is an apology to the court for coming in and asking for protection, and then disregarding it, as though we don’t count.
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Steve Klamkin
