TACOMA, Wash. — A jury found a man guilty Tuesday of attempted murder after he randomly attacked a woman at Point Defiance Park last year.
Nicholas Matthew represented himself in court – and didn’t choose to give a closing argument before the jury went into deliberation.
Victoria Nizzoli testified during Matthew’s trial – walking the court through the day he tried to kill her.
In February of 2024, she went to the park for a walk in the middle of the day. She said she heard footsteps behind her, turned, and saw Matthew.
“He followed me instantly, and that was when I felt the first hit,” said Nizzoli.
Nizzoli told the courtroom she was pinned on the ground, as she was stabbed multiple times in the head, face, neck, and back.
“I started screaming, ‘he’s going to kill me, he’s killing me.’”
People ran over, and that’s when she says her attacker stopped and ran off.
Mathew was arrested several weeks later at the San Francisco airport. Authorities say he was trying to leave the country.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
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