WILKES-BARRE – A Luzerne County judge sentenced a man accused of repeatedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend after breaking into her apartment last year to serve seven-and-a-half to 15 years in a state prison.
Hanover Township Police charged Joseph Dunaj of Luzerne last March and accused him of breaking into Lisa Scaffone’s apartment and stabbing her in front of her two sons and her grandmother.
As he was escorted out of the Luzerne County Courthouse in handcuffs, Dunaj told Newswatch 16 that he was sorry for terrorizing Scaffone and her family.
“I'm just going to serve my time,” said Danaj. “I'm sorry for what I did. I hope I can improve my life.”
Scaffone said the attack happened when Danaj was on probation for a previous break-in and that a protection from abuse order did not protect her.
"He cut my neck here. He nicked my jugular vein and he stabbed me in the head. It was a brutal stabbing. Basically, I'm lucky to be alive after what he did to me,” said Scaffone. “The police came on numerous occasions and they would tell him to leave and if he came back they would arrest him. That never happened."
Danaj was also ordered to pay restitution for Scaffone’s medical bills and damage to her apartment.