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Carlos Asencio was found guilty of first-degree murder following an eight-day trial in the death of Amanda Dabrowski, a 31-year-old microbiologist he briefly dated, the Worcester County District Attorney's Office said. He now faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said Asencio taped a phone underneath Dabrowski's car and tracked her to O’Connor’s Restaurant & Bar on July 3, 2019. As she sat there in a book club meeting, Asencio walked in and stabbed her 58 times in a matter of seconds.
Several patrons and employees at the restaurant put themselves in harm's way to subdue Asencio and stop the carnage.
The jury also found Asencio guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after he stabbed a man who tried to subdue him, the district attorney's office said. The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the attack.
Asencio didn't contest the allegations but mounted an insanity defense, reports said. His defense only called one witness during the trial. A psychiatrist who said the man suffers from schizoaffective disorder and heard voices that told him to kill the woman, the reports said.
However, the prosecution's expert witness disagreed with that diagnosis.
Dabrowski's family thanked the Worcester DA's office for their hard work but said in a statement that there were "no real winners" in the case.
While no verdict will ever bring Amanda back, we are relieved that a jury found this man responsible for taking her from us. We know he can never harm another person again. The jury helped us find some justice today, though we know there are no real winners.
Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. thanked the hard work of his staff in securing the guilty verdicts and gave his condolences to the Dabrowski family.
The loss of Amanda was devastating and tragic. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. No one should ever have to go through something as horrible as this. We can only hope this verdict helps the family find some justice. I want to acknowledge Assistant District Attorneys Edward Karcasinas Jr., Tiffany Scanlon, and Donna-Marie Haran who worked tirelessly on this case for Amanda.
Asencio will be sentenced on June 29.
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