The week of very disturbing news stories continues
According to a Scranton Times-Tribune report, a 10-year old boy by the name of Tristen Kurilla will be charged as an adult in the murder of 90-year old Helen Novak in the home of her caretaker on Saturday. Her caretaker was Anthony Virbitsky, Kurilla’s grandfater, whom Kurilla was visiting the day of the incident. When asked about what happened that day, Kurilla reportedly told officials “I killed that lady”. The sequence of events goes something like this: Kurilla walked into Novak’s room to ask her a question, which is when she subsequently asked him to leave the room. Annoyed, Kurilla left the room, grabbed a cane, hooked Novak’s neck with it, held her down, and beat her.
Novak however, did not die immediately, and according to Kurilla, he was only “trying to hurt her,” which is another excerpt from his interview with state troopers at law enforcement facilities following being taken into custody. After the initial assault, Kurilla ran and told his grandfather Novak was “bleeding from the mouth”, but when Virbitsky checked on her, there was no evidence of that, however, she did show visible signs of being traumatized at what just happened to her. Half an hour later, she was unresponsive, and was later pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital.
According to Kurilla’s mother, her son has a history of “mental difficulties”, but he will be tried as an adult on charges of aggravated assault and homicide. Below is an excerpt from the Times-Tribune‘s report.
Tristen said he pushed the cane into Novak’s throat for four to five seconds. He took the cane off her throat then punched her five times in the throat and five times in the stomach, according to police.
