Fazzino seeks murder trial delay due to daughter's leukemia

Former Boone man Alexander Fazzino is asking a judge to delay his first-degree murder trial so that he can spend time helping his daughter recuperate from a risky March bone marrow transplant.

Prosecutors charged Fazzino, 40, in April 2013 with the death of his wife, Emily Fazzino. Police found Emily Fazzino non-responsive on a bathroom floor in the couple's Boone home in 2012 after Alexander Fazzino called police reporting his wife was attempting suicide.

Prosecutors claim Fazzino killed his wife after she filed for divorce days earlier. Fazzino pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have argued his wife accidentally drowned in the bathtub after a seizure brought on by alcohol withdrawal. A trial is scheduled to start on April 13 in Decorah.

But the couple's 5-year-old daughter, Coco Fazzino, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in November, an aggressive blood and bone marrow cancer, according to a motion filed Wednesday by Fazzino's defense attorney. Chemotherapy has not worked to stop the cancer cells, and Coco will undergo a bone marrow transplant 13 days ahead of Fazzino's trial on March 31 at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., according to the motion.

The transplant will be risky for Coco, and there's an estimated 40 percent chance she could develop an infection and need intensive care after the operation, Kansas City pediatric oncologist Dr. Keith August wrote in a letter attached to the motion. There's a 10 to 15 percent chance the transplant could be fatal, he wrote.

Fazzino has been free on bond ahead of his trial, and should stay with his daughter for at least six weeks after the transplant, August wrote.

"If she develops life-threatening complications, it will be important to have her father around to make decisions and participate in her ongoing care," August wrote. "I think there is also immense benefit for children to have their loved ones present during this very difficult treatment, and I have seen firsthand the positive benefit that her father has on Coco."

The date of the bone marrow transplant cannot be moved due to the marrow donor's schedule, August wrote. Delaying the procedure could also worsen Coco's leukemia symptoms.

Fazzino's trial has been continued three times amid a flurry of pretrial motions and hearings. Defense attorney Bill Kutmus did not suggest a new trial date in the motion, but asked District Court Judge Michael Moon to give Fazzino at least six weeks with his daughter. Boone County Attorney Daniel Kolacia was on vacation and not immediately available for comment.

The stress of facing a murder charge, combined with his daughter's cancer, has taken a toll on Fazzino, Kutmus said.

"It's as though Alex has gone to hell with Dante," Kutmus said, referring to the Italian poet and author of the "Divine Comedy."

Fazzino and the couple's children moved to Missouri to live with his parents after Emily Fazzino's death. Fazzino returned to Missouri to await trial after his arrest.

The trial was moved to the Winneshiek County Courthouse, partly due to the stature of Emily Fazzino's family in central Iowa. Her father, Richard Beckwith, is a former CEO of grocery chain Fareway Stores, Inc., which is headquartered in Boone.