By JOSEPH KELLARD
Ali Ceber, 43, approached two Suffolk county police officers parked in a patrol car at a 7-Eleven in his hometown at about 3 p.m. on May 29, having fled the Island Park home of Violet Karagiannis. ³[He] told them that he¹d had a fight with his girlfriend, and that he was afraid he hurt her,² said Homicide Squad Commander Detective Lt. Dennis Farrell. ³He went on to say, I think I may have killed her.¹Š It¹s something that Š he said without any solicitation on the part of the police officers.²
After Nassau County police were notified and, a short time later, found Karagiannis, 54, who had been stabbed more than 20 times, in a bed in her Lorraine Avenue home, Ceber was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and first-degree burglary. The suspect, described by police as an illegal Turkish immigrant and gas station attendant, pleaded not guilty to the charges in First District Court in Hempstead on May 30.
Ceber entered Karagiannis¹s home with a key she had made for him when their ³relationship was still going strong,² and waited for her, Farrell said. ³It is our estimate that she had just arrived at the house and had entered the room when he surprised her and immediately attacked her,² Farrell said, noting that Ceber used two carving knives to stab Karagiannis multiple times in the chest and torso. Police found the victim fully clothed in her bed, and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Earlier that night, Ceber and Karagiannis, who had dated for about two years when she ended the relationship about three months ago, according to Farrell, ran into each other at Coyote Grill, an Island Park restaurant and bar they sometimes went to together. Karagiannis, who was with friends, told Ceber ³in no uncertain terms Š to leave her alone,² Farrell said.
Ceber had continued to pursue Karagiannis after their breakup, calling her at least once a day, ³but usually it was many more times than that,² said Farrell, who talked with Karagiannis¹s relatives. ³But he was not accepting that [she wanted nothing to do with him].² Karagiannis never sought an order of protection against Ceber.
When Karagiannis and her friends left Coyote Grill and stopped briefly at a local Taco Bell, Ceber drove to and parked his car near her home on Long Beach Road, and used the key she had given him to her home, where she lived with her adult daughter, Jennifer.
Larella Reiter, who lives two doors down from Karagiannis, said her husband was outside smoking a cigarette on their front stoop when he heard what sounded like people arguing at around midnight. ³He came upstairs and told me he heard somebody fighting outside, but he didn¹t know where it was coming from,² Reiter recounted. ³The next morning he saw the police at the house and he came up to me in bed and said, Honey, you¹re not going to believe this ‹ I saw police taking a body bag out of a house a few doors away.¹²
Reiter described Karagiannis as ³a very nice person. I never saw her have any problems. She just worked, worked, worked.² Karagiannis was a real estate agent for Sea Coast Realty in Island Park for eight years, and Reiter recalled that Karagiannis once tried to find Reiter¹s mother a house on Lorraine Avenue.
Doris Andriano said she has lived across the street from the Karagiannises for about 30 years. ³This is devastating news, to think something like that can happen on your own block,² she said. Andriano described Karagiannis as ³ a sweetheart² who ³kept very much to herself.² She said she had seen Ceber walking outside Karagiannis¹s house a few times.
Suzanne Contromano, who lives next door in an apartment Karagiannis found for her, saw the victim¹s daughter and sister surrounded by detectives outside the next morning. ³It was just so terrible to see the looks on their faces and see them crying,² Contromano said.
³I still feel like Š I¹m having a bad dream,² said Karagiannis¹s sister, Mary Serroukas. ³I don¹t understand what happened.²
A woman inside Karagiannis¹s house declined to answer questions the day after the incident. The night of the stabbing, according to police, Jennifer Karagiannis had returned home, unaware that her mother lay dead in her bedroom. Police awoke her after Ceber told them about the incident.
Ceber, who has no relatives living on Long Island, is being held without bail pending his next court date, scheduled for June 2.
