ELMA, N.Y. — An Elma man has been indicted by an Erie County grand jury on second degree murder charges in the death his girlfriend.
61 year old Frank Litterio was arraigned by an Erie County Court Judge on the charge this morning.
The district attorney's office said the Erie County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on the 1800 block of West Blood Road in the Town of Elma on December 13 around 5p.m.
At the time of the call Sheriff's Officers said that they were answering a request to check on the welfare of Litterio, which they said was placed by his daughter.
Deputies who arrived found 62-year-old Jill Harris, whom they described as Litterio's long-time live-in girlfriend, dead inside the home.
"She was deceased from arrows that were shot from a crossbow," Erie County Undersheriff William Cooley confirmed. "The autopsy revealed that she had been struck three times by arrows, once in the abdomen, once in the face, and once in the chest."
Litterio was then taken by ambulance to ECMC, where he was treated for "suspected self-inflicted wounds."
"He had a cut to his neck, he had a cut to his wrist and he had puncture wounds to his torso area," Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said. "It was obviously a horrific scene."
Authorities maintain that Litterio intended to kill Harris.
"When you consider what it takes to load and fire a crossbow there's a process to it. So this was clearly a deliberate action," Cooley said.
Litterio will return to court on February 13 for a pre-trial conference and remains to be held without bail.
