Accused NYC killer Nikki Secondino confessed she ‘wanted them dead’
By Larry Celona, Joe Marino, Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, Georgett Roberts Tina Moore
Accused transgender killer Nikki Secondino gave cops a chilling confession to Thursday’s slashing attack on her dad and sister — declaring that she “wanted them dead” and boasting that she would have killed others if she could have, sources told The Post.
![Carlo Secondino was stabbed to death and his daughter Liana was wounded.Facebook/Carlo Secondino](https://goodshepherdmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/brooklyn-bensonhhurst-homicide-081-2-768x1024.webp)
Facebook/Carlo Secondino
“I came out of the bedroom. My father was sitting on the couch,” she allegedly told cops after the attack inside the family’s Bensonhurst home, which left dad Carlo dead and sister Liana fighting for her life.
“I hit him on the head with a hammer. Then I reached for my favorite German knife and stabbed the s–t out of him.
“My sister came out and tried to stop me and I stabbed her in the back, head and stomach,” Nikki allegedly confessed.
“I wanted them dead.
“If I would have seen the 911 caller, she would have been next,” she said, apparently referring to a neighbor who called cops.
“I didn’t plan it. I didn’t have to. I don’t remember where I put the knife. I am sure they will find it.”
On Thursday, Nikki, 22, was charged with murder and attempted murder for allegedly killing her 61-year-old father and stabbing her 19-year-old sister.
She initially told police that two intruders attacked the family and “sexually assaulted me,” but sources said she later confessed that she concocted the story after the attacks.
Neighbors told The Post they heard Nikki on the phone in the hallway after the attacks claiming the family had been robbed by a pair of home invaders.
Arriving cops found the elder Secondino lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor and his younger daughter conscious but critically injured.
“My sister stabbed me,” the wounded teen allegedly told the officers. “Have you seen my dad? Go get him.”
While no motive for the killing has been revealed, a police source said Nikki was being stressed by family fighting.
“She was just getting annoyed at minor things and it just kept building up in her mind until she went into a fit of rage,” a police official said.
The deadly assaults come amid new reports of turmoil in the family.
In late July, Nikki got a temporary order of protection against her dad and sister, claiming Liana threatened to kill her and that her father was in “the mob.”
“It was very weird. It wasn’t sophisticated, it was grammatically poor,” one police source said of Nikki’s request for the order.
While a motive for the killing was not revealed, the family court request came after two incidents of threats and violence in the family earlier that month.
On July 15, Nikki called the cops and claimed her father had threatened to kill her, and two days later, her sister was charged with assault and criminal mischief for allegedly tearing down window blinds and cutting Nikki’s hand.
A judge agreed to sign off on the order, said sources, who added that her father was not believed to be connected to the Mafia.
“He was supportive of her choices,” neighbor Joe Pagano said Friday of Carlo’s relationship with Nikki. “He never threw her out.
“She was very lazy,” he said. “He wanted her to get a job. That was the biggest beef. If you are 20-something, not going to school, you gotta have a job.”
On Friday, a Gofundme.com page was created for Liana and her father, with the site raising more than $10,000 by midday.
![Nikki Secondino, a transgender woman, is charged with murder in her father’s death and attempted murder for allegedly wounding her kid sister.Instagram/Nikki Secondino](https://goodshepherdmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/brooklyn-bensonhurst-murder-095-580x1024.webp)
Instagram/Nikki Secondino
Locals said Liana had come home from college to be with the family during the Christmas holiday and was planning to go see her boyfriend.
“Liana is like walking sunshine and brings joy and positivity with her wherever she goes,” the page says. “Liana’s father, Carolo, loved her so much and worked hard every day to be the best father he could.
“Right now Liana needs our support due to tragic events, so please give if you are able.”
Police said Nikki was treated for slash wounds to her hands.
Her father worked as a deliveryman at a local eatery.
“He was a beautiful man,” Briana Pacheco, who worked with Carlo Secondino at Mike’s Diner in Brooklyn, told The Post Friday. “He’ll come in with cupcakes or brownies and, ‘Here you go guys.’”
Pacheco, 19, said Carlo didn’t share much about his family life but said he had recently seemed concerned about Nikki.
“He’d say his daughter, you know, that she had problems or whatever but it was nothing to a certain extent that we expected this to happen,” Pacheco said.
“He was just like, ‘Oh, you know, she is not having a good day today,’ or ‘She’s been a headache,’ little things like any would be to their parents.”
But she said that the day before he was killed, Carlo “kind of seemed uneasy like there was something going on at home but it wasn’t nothing that somebody could have done.
“He came to work and he was just like very adamant and persistent,” she said. “He was like, “She is at home,’ or “She is having problems.’”
Neighbor: “I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone.”
A suspect is awaiting arraignment in the deadly stabbing of her father at their home in Brooklyn.
A memorial for Carlo Secondino now sits at the counter of Mike’s Diner in Bensonhurst, where the 61-year-old had worked as a deliveryman.
“He was very well-liked by many, many people,” neighbor Rose Contrera said.
“He was the type of guy that if we were having a bad day, he would come in and make it better,” former coworker Briana Pacheco said.
Police found Secondino stabbed to death in his home on 17th Avenue early Thursday morning. His younger daughter, 19-year-old Liana, was rushed to a local hospital with serious stab wounds, and his older daughter, 22-year-old Nikki Secondino, was taken to the hospital with minor cuts.
“It’s just so sad to see that this happened to him because he didn’t deserve this, and he cried for help so many times and nobody ever did anything,” Pacheco said.
According to police sources, Nikki initially claimed two intruders broke in through the window and stabbed the family, but cops were suspicious of her account.
Sources tell us investigators confronted the older daughter about the holes in her story, including that there was nobody on surveillance video breaking in. That’s when we’re told the daughter confessed to stabbing both her father and sister.
“I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone,” Contrera said.
Before this happened, police had been called to the home for domestic disputes at least three times.
“He would express his concerns with her, and he would say that yeah, he did feel like that she was a danger to herself or to others,” Pacheco said. “But nobody would have ever thought that this would’ve come down to this, what happened.”
Nikki Secondino is now charged with murder.
Police recovered both a hammer and knife from the scene but are still looking for the motive.
Nikki Secondino to be arraigned in Brooklyn court
Nikki Secondino, the daughter accused of stabbing her father to death and wounding her sister, is expected to be arraigned Friday in Brooklyn.
Secondino, 22, is charged with murder and attempted murder for the attack that happened Thursday at the family’s apartment in Bensonhurst.
Secondino lied to police and claimed the crime was the work of two men who forced their way in, sources told CBS2. She later confessed, the sources said.
Friday, Secondino’s father, identified as 61-year-old Carlo Secondino, was being remembered at the diner where he worked as a deliveryman.
“He kind of treated me like I was one of his own. Like if it was late at night and I was coming out of work late, he would make sure I got home safe. He would make sure all of us got home safe, we were all doing OK,” a woman who works at the diner said.
Secondino’s 19-year-old sister remains hospitalized.
Police are working to pinpoint a motive for the attack.
Daughter arrested in connection to deadly stabbing
Police say 22-year-old Nikki Secondino has been arrested in connection to the deadly stabbing of her father, 61-year-old Carlo Secondino.
She has been charged with murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Sources say she first lied to police, claiming it was a home invasion, but she later confessed.
Friends put up a picture of Carlo Secondino and flowers inside a diner where he worked.
Questions surround stabbing death of Brooklyn father
There are questions surrounding the stabbing death of a Brooklyn father.
According to police, one of the victim’s daughters claims the family was attacked during a home invasion, but they say what exactly led up to the stabbings is unclear.
The 61-year-old father was found stabbed to death inside a second-floor apartment in Bensonhurst, and his 19-year-old daughter was found with stab wounds throughout her body. She was rushed to a local hospital, where she’s fighting for her life.
Now police say the victim’s other daughter, a 22-year-old who was found with a cut to her hand, tells them two men forced their way into the home before attacking her family, including herself.
Police say they were called to the home just before 6 a.m. for an assault.
At this time, it remains unclear what exactly led up to the stabbings, but police say they are questioning the 22-year-old and are searching for surveillance to back up her claims of a home invasion.
Detectives and members of the chief medical examiner’s office were seen going in and out of the home as well, talking to neighbors all afternoon.
“My roommate was leaving for work at 7 a.m., and he just, when he left, he just called me saying that pretty much the whole street was closed and that pretty much something happened, someone was killed,” neighbor Jhonny Xue said.
Neighbor Joe Pagano says he knew the family.
“Two daughters and a father, that’s all I know, really. They kept to themselves, you know. I don’t know much about them,” he said. “I’ve been here 12 years, and they’ve been here just as long.”
Although police are questioning the 22-year-old daughter, they say no arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.
“It’s a family neighborhood”
The stabbing happened just before 6 a.m. at an apartment above a plumbing and heating company in Bensonhurst.
CBS2 was on the scene as detectives went in and out all morning.
“It’s a family neighborhood. Nothing like this happens on the block like this,” neighbor Joe Pagano said.
Police were called to the home for an assault. Once inside, they found a 61-year-old man stabbed to death, a 19-year-old woman stabbed throughout her body, and a 22-year-old woman with stab wounds to her hands.
Pagano said the victims were a father and his two daughters.
“They kept to themselves, I don’t know much about them,” he said. “I’ve been here 12 years. They’ve been here just as long.”
Police said one of the daughters claims two men broke into the home demanding property before stabbing all three victims and taking off on foot.
“I thought it was very bad, because I went out to throw some garbage about 7:15 and I saw the helicopter circling. I said, wow, they’re looking for someone,” another resident said.
Detectives and members of the chief medical examiner’s office went in and out of the home and talked to neighbors. Some woke up to the news that someone was killed right next door.
“My roommate was leaving for work at 7 a.m., and when he left he just called me saying that pretty much the whole street was closed and pretty much something happened, someone was killed,” said neighbor Jhonny Xue.
The 19-year-old woman remains in critical condition, while the 22-year-old is expected to be OK.