A western New York man is accused of shooting his girlfriend to death with a crossbow in their living room.
Frank J. Litterio, 61, of Elma, allegedly shot Jill Harris, 62, multiple times with the medieval weapon on Dec. 13 before trying to take his own life, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said last week.
“An autopsy revealed that Harris had been struck three times by arrows — once in the abdomen, once in the face and once in the chest,” Erie County Undersheriff Bill Cooley said at a press conference Friday.
The crossbow had to be reloaded one arrow at a time, adding to the sadistic nature of the domestic murder, Cooley noted.
“So when you consider what it takes to load and fire a crossbow, there’s a process to it. So this was clearly… deliberate actions,” he said.
Litterio was arraigned on second-degree murder charges from a hospital where he was being treated for “self-inflicted wounds,” including a cut to his neck, multiple puncture wounds to his chest and injuries to one of his wrists, officials said.
He was being held without bail ahead of his next hearing, set for Jan. 29, 2024.
If convicted, Litterio faces 25 years to life in prison.
The incident came months after another upstate man was accused of killing his newborn baby and injuring his wife with a crossbow.
