In Memory of Kristin Palumbo Longo

Kristin Mary Palumbo Longo

Visitation:
Thursday, October 1, 2009
4:00 PM until 8:00 PM
V.J. Iocovozzi Funeral Home Inc.
203 Second Ave.
Frankfort, NY 13340

Service:
Friday, October 2, 2009
10:00 AM
Our Lady Queen of Apostles Church
S. Frankfort St
Frankfort, NY 13340

Utica - Kristin Mary Palumbo Longo

Utica - Kristin Mary Palumbo Longo, 39, of Cosby Manor Rd passed away unexpectedly Monday, September 28, 2009 in her home.

She was born in Ilion on October 18, 1969, the daughter of Joseph and Judith Hopkins Palumbo. She attended St. Mary's School, Frankfort, Annunciation School,Ilion and graduated from Notre Dame High School with the class of 1987. She later attended and graduated St. Elizabeth's School of Nursing and received her Nursing Degree from MVCC with the class of 2000. Kristin was a Registered Nurse for Liberty Mutual Insurance, Syracuse.

Kristin is survived by her beloved children, Joseph A. Longo, Catherine Longo, Gianna Longo and Jared Longo; her mother, Judith Palumbo, of Utica; her father & step mother, Joseph & Joann Palumbo of Utica; paternal grandmother, Vita Palumbo of Frankfort; one brother & sister in law, Joseph & Jami Palumbo of San Marcos, CA; one sister & brother in law, Gina & Steve Pearce of New Hartford; her uncles & aunts, Frank & Jill Palumbo of Frankfort, Rick & Joanne Palumbo of Green Island and John & Nancy Dick of Eagle River, AK; she was the “favorite” aunt of Luca Palumbo, Sienna Palumbo, Kendall Pearce, Jackson Pearce, Anthony Gilberti and A J Gilberti; her cousins, Rick Palumbo, Christina & Jerry Sangiacomo, Elizabeth Dick, Nathaniel Dick and Matthew Palumbo & his fiancée, Brook Bennett and several great aunts, great uncles, cousins, extended family & friends. She was predeceased by paternal grandfather, Joseph Palumbo and her maternal grandfather & grandmother, Orrin & Dorothy Hopkins.

Her funeral will be held Friday at 9:15 am from the V. J. Iocovozzi Funeral Home, Inc., 203 Second Ave. Frankfort and at 10:00 am in Our Lady Queen Of Apostles Church where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by the Rev. Anthony Barrett, pastor and assisted by Deacon James Bower. Interment will be in St. Agnes Cemetery. Calling hours will be Thursday from 4-8 at the V. J. Iocovozzi Funeral Home, Inc. Contributions in Kristin's memory may be made to her children's college fund to the
2009 Longo Childrens Fund
8855 Tibbitts Rd
New Hartford, NY 13413
Envelopes will be available at the funeral home.

Expressions of sympathy may be placed on Kristin’s online memorial page by going to www.iocovozzifuneralhomes.com




UTICA —


In the hours after Kristin Longo’s death Monday, her friends and relatives struggled to come to terms with what had happened.

“I don’t understand what goes through people’s minds sometimes,” friend Angelina Aceto wrote on her Facebook page. “A good woman/friend was lost today, please help me in praying for her friends and family, that they get through this awful time in their lives.”

Another acquaintance wrote simply on Facebook: “This is hell on earth.”

Longo, 39, was fatally stabbed at her Deerfield home Monday by her husband, Utica police Investigator Joseph Longo Jr. Kristin Longo recently had filed for divorce, and Longo Jr. also killed himself during the incident, police said.

As a lifelong resident of the Mohawk Valley, Longo — born Kristin Mary Palumbo — touched many lives here. An official obituary was not available Tuesday, but those who knew her described the former nurse as kind, outgoing and, above all else, a devoted mother.

Longo’s attention to her four children, ages 9 to 17, especially stood out to Aceto, who had been her hairdresser for several years.

“She loved her family and friends so much,” Aceto said in an e-mail Monday evening. “She was a ‘mom-on-the-go,’ always running for those kids. I remember one time she came and got her color on her head, then ran out to bring one of them to their tutor … plastic cap and all.”

Longo’s grandmother, Vita Palumbo of Frankfort, said her granddaughter’s concern for other people was evident even at a young age.

“She was very respectful, very friendly,” she said. “Would do anything for you if she could, if you needed her.”

Palumbo said Longo is the daughter of Joseph and Judy Palumbo of Utica. Her sister, Gina Pearce, still lives in the area. Her brother, Joseph Palumbo, lives in San Diego.

Longo graduated from Mohawk Valley Community College in 2000 with an associate’s degree in nursing, and later worked as a nurse at Kernan Elementary in the Utica City School District. The name of her current employer was not immediately available.

She also is a 1987 graduate of Notre Dame High School. A handful of teachers at the school Tuesday said they still remembered her more than two decades later.

Barbara McDonough, who taught science at the time, described Longo as an “outgoing, caring person” who “enjoyed life as a student.”

McDonough, math teacher Kevin Morrisroe and religion teacher Paul Hanley agreed Longo was popular and well liked by her classmates, and the teachers still could rattle off a list of her high school activities: cheerleading, the Future Business Leaders of America, yearbook and the planning committees for the junior prom and the senior ball.

“She’s in our prayers, and her family is in our prayers, and that’s all we can say,” Hanley added.
Funeral arrangements for Longo are being handled by the V.J. Iocovozzi Funeral Home in Frankfort but were incomplete as of Tuesday evening.

Joseph Longo’s funeral arrangements are being handled separately through the Matt Funeral Home in Utica.

__________________________


Attorneys for Longos speak of hours preceding deaths
Both seemed calm after divorce proceedings

Loading multimedia...

By ROCCO LaDUCA
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Sep 30, 2009 @ 06:25 PM
Last update Oct 01, 2009 @ 01:06 AM
UTICA —


When Utica police Investigator Joseph Longo Jr. left divorce proceedings Monday, he didn’t appear to be angry about what was going on, his attorney, Devin Garramone, said Wednesday.

Likewise, his wife, Kristin Longo, seemed satisfied with how the day’s proceedings had ended, according to her attorney, George Massoud.

But in the few hours that followed, something went terribly wrong.

While Longo Jr.’s reasons for stabbing his wife more than a dozen times later that afternoon inside their Deerfield home will forever remain left to speculation, his attorney offered what he believed might have pushed the 13-year police veteran over the edge.

“He was still in love with her, and I think that he would have been happier to reconcile with herKRISTIN LONGO SERVICES
Kristin Longo’s funeral will take place at 9:15 a.m. Friday at the V.J. Iocovozzi Funeral Home, 203 Second Ave., Frankfort, and at 10 a.m. at Our Lady Queen Of Apostles Church, where a Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated. Calling hours will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday.


than get a divorce, but then it finally dawned on him that he was losing his wife,” said Garramone.

“The prospect of losing her, and her meeting somebody else and starting a new life, it freaked him out,” Garramone added. “Like any typical break-up, there was a period of reckoning, and I think that’s where he was at. It was a real critical point, and he just went overboard.”

After 41-year-old Longo Jr. repeatedly stabbed his wife shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, he then stabbed himself about 20 times and slashed at his throat, police said. Once Kristin Longo died, Longo Jr. was alive long enough to be discovered by their 8-year-old son and to admit to the stabbings.

Although Kristin Longo, 39, did fear for her safety as her husband’s emotional stability spiraled downward in the weeks leading up to the murder-suicide, she appeared to believe everything would be OK after Monday’s appearance in state Supreme Court, Massoud said.

At Kristin Longo’s request, Acting Supreme Court Justice James Griffith issued a “refrain from” order prohibiting Longo Jr. from assaulting, harassing, stalking, menacing or committing any other crimes against his wife and her family, Massoud said. On Friday, the same day Longo Jr. was served with divorce papers, Kristin Longo also had been granted exclusive use and possession of their home, and Longo Jr. was ordered to stay away.

But a “refrain from” order doesn’t have as many teeth as a formal order of protection, which would have required a mandatory arrest upon violation, Massoud said. Any violation of the “refrain from” order would likely have resulted in Longo Jr. being found in contempt of court.

An order of protection was never issued against Longo Jr., Massoud said, because Kristin Longo believed such an order would cause too much trouble for Longo Jr. at his job with the Police Department and possibly result in his termination.

“She was working with his employer to keep him under control and to hopefully get him the help he needed,” particularly counseling for his emotional and violent tendencies, Massoud said. “If he was terminated from his job, then he’d be out on his own and only God knows what would happen.”

Kristin Longo felt confident that her husband’s police supervisors were keeping their eye on him, since they already had taken away his service weapon and prohibited him from having any contact with his wife while he was on duty, Massoud said.

The Police Department, however, was only able to legally control Longo Jr.’s actions during the eight hours he was at work, Police Chief Daniel LaBella said. Longo Jr.’s behavior had already become a concern over the summer after he inappropriately displayed his weapon on two occasions at Thomas R. Proctor High School. He had since been removed from the school as a police liaison and reassigned to desk duty.

So when Kristin Longo and Longo Jr. left Monday’s divorce proceeding, Massoud believed his client had taken all of the appropriate precautions.

“She certainly seemed to have a sense of relief that her husband was going to behave himself and abide by the terms of the order,” Massoud said. “It was her hope that she would have actual protection, and not just the protection of a piece of paper.”

Kristin Longo’s desire for a divorce not only stemmed from marital troubles over her husband’s alleged infidelity and threats of violence; it also was meant to end the longtime verbal abuse she and her four children had to endure, Massoud said.

“The course of action that she took is consistent with an abused person who was trying to appease her husband and trying to work things out in a fashion that is not scandalous,” Massoud said.

Kristin Longo’s relief walking out of court, therefore, is exactly what might be expected from someone who is trying to escape a cycle of domestic abuse, said Rosemary Vennero, non-residential director of the YWCA of the Mohawk Valley.

“More so than not, victims of abuse who go to court don’t necessarily see their abuser as being punished,” Vennero said. Instead, “They just want the abuse to stop, and they want to see someone make them stop. They think that will be good enough, and she probably did feel really good about the step she finally took.”

But in the end, the resolution wasn’t the one Kristin Longo was looking for, Vennero said. Once a victim of domestic abuse starts to take action, she said, that person is at a 50-percent-or-higher risk of either further abuse or possible death.

“Kristin began taking action 10 days earlier, and in Joe’s mind, in his desperation, he probably thought he was losing control of Kristin,” Vennero said.

In the end, though, neither Longo probably ever expected their lives would end so tragically, Longo Jr.’s attorney said.

“I’m sure it surprised her that this happened, and Joe might have even surprised himself,” Garramone said.
_____________________________________

 DEERFIELD, N.Y. (WKTV) - Just days after the tragic death of Kristin Palumbo Longo at the hands of her husband - Joseph Longo Jr. - during a killing/suicide in their Cosby Manor Road Home, the family of Kristin Palumbo Longo says they are honoring her memory, but looking to the future of her children.
 "Our family wishes to extend our gratitude for the tremendous outpouring of love and support," the family said in a statement. "Our priorities at this time are to ensure that the immediate and future needs of the children are met and that we honor the life and memory of our beloved Kristin. We ask that everyone please respect the privacy of the family and appreciate your continued support."

State Police found the body of Kristin, and a critically wounded Longo in the home Monday after one of the couple's children came home then ran to a neighbor's house to call 911. Investigators say Longo admitted stabbing his
wife and then himself.

Kristin Longo's attorney, George Massoud, says his client had exclusive use and possession of the home, and that while Longo's presence there would not have lead to his arrest, he would have been held in contempt of court.

Massoud says Kristin Longo had a 'refrain from' order against Longo. The attorney says the wording and protection offered is similar to a restraining order, stating that Longo must refrain from stalking, harassing or otherwise menacing his wife.

State Police, who are investigating the crime, say that neither they nor Oneida County Sheriff's deputies had ever responded to the Longo's Deerfield home for any kind of domestic dispute.

Attorney Massoud, also a long-time family friend of Kristen Longo, says 'disbelief and devastation' are the only words remotely strong enough to describe what those who knew her are feeling following Monday's tragedy.

On Tuesday, Utica Police Chief Daniel LaBella - Longo's former partner of five years - said that the department had pulled Longo's gun about a month ago, stemming from an incident at Proctor High School.

LaBella said Longo allegedly pulled his weapon while working security at the school. Ironically, Longo's disciplinary hearing for that incident was supposed to happen Tuesday morning, September 29 at 11 a.m.
Instead, Longo's former boss and partner held a news conference at that time regarding the tragic incident.

Chief LaBella also confirms that Longo did appear in Oneida County Family Court Monday, and that he was despondent over situations regarding his marriage.

Court documents show the two had several recent court appearances regarding apparent divorce proceedings and settlements. Chief LaBella says the department saw Longo suffering and made counseling available to him, and that Longo was in the process of taking advantage of the counseling. Still, LaBella says he never saw this coming.

"The police department here did everything possible," LaBella said. "We could not have prevented this in any shape or fashion. I've known Joe for a number of years and his wife and if you were to ask me if I'd seen this coming I would have to say honestly, no. I don't think anybody-anybody seen this coming."

As far as mourning the former investigator, LaBella says, yes, Longo had a long, distinguished career at the Utica Police Department. But LaBella says Longo forfeited the right to any honor that goes with that when he committed this crime, leaving their four children without parents.

The chief says the department is starting a fund drive for the couple's four children, whom he says are the real victims in this tragedy.

Joseph Anthony Longo
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Joseph Anthony Longo, Jr., 41, died on Monday, September 28, 2009 at St. Elizabeth Medical Center.

Joe was born in New Hartford on April 10, 1968, a son of Joseph A. Longo and the late Sue (Allbright) Longo. He was raised in Deerfield and was a graduate of Whitesboro High School. Joe continued his education studying criminal justice at MVCC. Following college, he was employed for many years as a corrections officer for the Oneida County Correctional Facility. In 1995, he became a police officer at the Utica Police Department and had received numerous commendations for meritorious service in his fourteen year career. Joe was an avid hockey player and active dad with his kids in their all their activities.

Joe and Kristin had four beautiful children, Joseph A. , III, Catherine Vita, Gianna Noel and Jared Thomas Longo. He also leaves his father, Joseph Sr.; brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Jennifer Longo; sister and brother-in-law, Stacy and Chris Gilberti; his aunt, Carol “Yaya” Longo; and also many beloved nieces, nephews, friends, and co-workers. He was predeceased by his beloved mother, Sue; grandparents, Darby and Cattie Longo and Muriel and Jim Allbright.

His Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday at 12 noon at St. Mary of Mt. Carmel/Blessed Sacrament Parish in Utica. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery.

Relatives and friends may call on Monday prior to mass at Mt. Carmel Church from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

A special thank you goes out to the many friends, relatives, neighbors, emergency personnel, local police, state police, and co-workers for their kindness and concern during this most difficult time.

In memory of Joe, please consider the needs of his children, especially in your prayers.

Arrangements are with The Matt Funeral Home of Utica.