Waltham man found guilty of 2020 fatal stabbing on Halloween
Jonathan Galindo, 38, was found guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated burglary following a three-week trial that began May 8, the DA's office said in a Friday news release.
At 9:14 p.m. Oct. 31, 2020, Fitzgerald, 61, called 911 and told police he had been stabbed in his Waltham home and was dying, officials said.
Police found him bleeding but conscious at the threshold of the home, and he told them he had been stabbed by a man wearing a ninja mask.
Fitzgerald was brought to the hospital, where he died just after 10 p.m. He was stabbed three times in the chest, shoulder and thigh. An autopsy revealed that the chest wound, which punctured his lung, was fatal.
At the home on Alder Street, police found blood, a knife, a fingerprint on the back storm door and a set of footprints in the snow leading to that door, according to the district attorney's office.
Four days after Fitzgerald's death, police matched the fingerprint on the storm door to Galindo, who was Fitzgerald's former housemate and had moved out of the apartment that spring. DNA on the handle of the knife also matched Galindo, officials said.
On Nov. 7, police received an arrest warrant for Galindo. They also found a black mask in his closet.
Location data from Galindo's phone showed him at the Alder Street apartment on the night of Fitzgerald's death, officials said. The phone's internet search history also showed repeated searches for 'Any recent stabbings in Waltham last night?' the following day.
A sentencing hearing for Galindo has been scheduled for 2 p.m. on July 15.
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