(NECN: Alysha Palumbo, Chelsea, Mass.) - It was chaos in a Chelsea, Mass. courtroom Monday morning as a man in the gallery burst through the bar that separates the public from the judge, attorneys and defendant.
Several court officers rushed to apprehend the man, later identified as 51-year-old Thomas Russo, and push him back out of the courtroom, where he was taken into custody – but not before he resisted arrest.
The melee interrupted a tense and emotional arraignment of 46-year-old Peter Deconinck.
Deconinck is charged with murder in the stabbing death Saturday at a Revere trailer park of Russo’s brother, 50-year-old Ronald Russo.
Thomas Russo had become emotional as the prosecutor described the horrific nature in which his brother was killed.
The prosecutor said, "The autopsy report revealed that Mr. Russo did suffer 69 knife wounds to his body."
In fact, witnesses said Saturday the crime scene was a nightmare.
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"There was blood everywhere, the ceilings, walls, tables upside down, chairs upside down," said James Harriman, who discovered the body. "The guy was covered."
Deconinck was arrested shortly after the murder at a nearby MBTA station covered in blood, allegedly telling police he didn’t kill anyone and if he did "it was self defense."
"They observed this defendant, Mr. Deconinck covered in blood and he did have a laceration to his calf," said the prosecutor. "Upon asking him a question, he said he had been shot in Everett, he then became combative and began threatening police as well as the emergency personnel that arrived."
