Man, 71, Convicted Of Stabbing Lover In Branford Motel: Report

NEW HAVEN, CT — A former Madison man, 71, has been found guilty of first-degree assault after stabbing his lover in a Branford motel in 2018, the New Haven Register reported.

John Giannetti, 71, had used as his defense that he and his lover, who was 70 at the time, had rough sex that included bondage and that the two fought over a knife, and, he claimed, she came at him with the weapon. She had three stab wounds to her neck.

Ginnetti had been held on $500,000 bond at Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown. That bail was raised to $1 million, the Register reported. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he returns to court for sentencing on April 9, court records show.

Then age 69 and living on Warpas Road in Madison, Branford Police charged Ginnetti with first-degree assault, second-degree strangulation and first-degree unlawful restraint. But in court, he is only fighting the B felony first-degree assault charge.

The Register reported that during trial testimony, Ginnetti described who he and the victim had known each other since high school and then met again in 1981, had a one-night stand, and then didn't connect again until their 50th high school reunion. She was married. He testified that they became involved sexually in 2017 and would meet in motels, like the Motel 6 where the assault occurred in the fall of 2018. Their sexual relationship evolved into one that included bondage, the Register reported he testified, and the knife the two fought over in the Branford motel.

He goes on to describe the explicit and graphic nature of their relationship, as reported by the paper, culminating in the fight where she sustained numerous stab wounds to her neck, a fractured nose and facial bruising. He claimed she came at him, they fought over the knife and that's how she was injured.

Read the full account of his graphic testimony here.