Ex-teacher sent to prison for 6 1/2 years in stabbing

Philip Pignataro still maintains he stabbed his estranged wife's boyfriend in self-defense.

By CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 22, 2001

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A former Gulf High School teacher was sentenced Thursday to state prison for stabbing the boyfriend of his estranged wife.

[Times photo: Janel Schroeder-Norton] "To the day I die and meet my God, I know I'm innocent," an emotional Philip Pignataro said Thursday.

Philip Pignataro, 32, was convicted of attempted second-degree murder after an emotional trial in March.

Circuit Judge Stanley Mills ordered Pignataro to serve 6 1/2 years in prison, the bottom of the state sentencing guidelines. Pignataro faced a maximum of 15 years in prison.

"This didn't come close to being the worst attempted second-degree murder," Mills said. "But it's also not something that deserves a slap on the wrist."

The stabbing occurred on Dec. 26, 1999, after Pignataro dropped off his two young sons at the New Port Richey home of his estranged wife, Ara Rutledge. Prosecutors said Pignataro was angry and jealous in the days leading up to the attack because Rutledge had started dating another man, Robert Clark.

Pignataro did not dispute that he stabbed Clark, but he testified at his trial that he acted in self-defense. He said he feared for his life when the much larger Clark threatened to kill him and pinned him against Pignataro's pickup truck.

Clark, who did not attend the sentencing hearing, was stabbed in the stomach and spent five days in the hospital.

"This . . . easily could have been a murder case," Mills said before pronouncing his sentence, which also included three years of probation.

Pignataro, dressed in a tan suit, continued to deny any wrongdoing in a statement to the court Thursday. "To the day I die and meet my God, I know I'm innocent," he said.

Pignataro's family, friends and former students packed the courtroom Thursday to support a man they described as a gifted teacher and a loving father. Pignataro taught special education at Gulf High before his arrest.

"He always was a great teacher," said Dan Smith, 19, a former student. "He was a super nice guy."

Mills, who said he had a "soft spot in my heart for teachers," recommended that Pignataro find a way in prison to use his talents as an educator.

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