Judge rejects defense claim in Marblehead man’s murder trial

SALEM – A Superior Court judge rejected a claim that Peter S. Ronchi, the Marblehead man charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child two years ago, was incapable of understanding the rights he was giving up when he confessed.Judge David A. Lowy on Thursday afternoon concluded in his findings that the confession was voluntary and that Ronchi was “articulate and did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” Lowy also ruled that Ronchi’s statements were not made involuntarily because of fatigue.Defense attorney Chauncey Wood argued that Ronchi was “extremely fatigued,” after being awake for 48 hours straight when questioned and that prevented him from knowingly and voluntarily waiving his Miranda rights before he confessed to the killing.Assistant District Attorney Jean M. Curran argued against that claim.Ronchi, 47, who last lived at 10 Taft St. in Marblehead, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the May 16, 2009 stabbing death of his 42-year-old girlfriend, Yuliya Galperina, and her unborn son.Galperina was stabbed more than 15 times inside her apartment complex on Pope Street in Salem.Investigators believe Ronchi arrived at Galperina’s apartment around 10:30 p.m. and left about an hour later, according to the apartment video.It is theorized that Ronchi brought a 6-inch hunting knife to the apartment, indicating a theory of pre-mediated murder.After the stabbing, Ronchi went back to his Taft Street apartment, changed his clothes and drove his van to Norwalk, Conn., where he eventually turned himself in to police.Ronchi, who pleaded innocent to both charges, is scheduled to be back in court later this month. He remains held at the Middleton Jail without bail.A conviction on each of the two charges carries a mandatory punishment of life behind bars without ever being paroled.