The parents of an aspiring teacher who was strangled on Staten Island are suing Facebook over a gruesome photo of their murdered daughter that an EMT posted on the site.
Ronald and Marti Wimmer filed a civil suit in connection with the photo taken by EMT Mark Musarella after the murder of their daughter, Caroline, 26, inside her apartment in March 2009.
"I'm just so upset and traumatized over all of this," Marti Wimmer told reporters outside the Richmond County Court House yesterday, the second anniversary of her daughter's murder. "I haven't had a chance to heal yet.
"Mark Musarella only got 200 hours of community service, and my daughter's picture is somewhere on the Internet and nobody can get it back to me," she said.
Calvin Lawson is serving a 25 years-to-life sentence for beating and then strangling Wimmer over rumors that she had told his girlfriend that he'd cheated.
Wimmer's parents found her body two days later. They called 911, and Musarella, 46, one of the first responders, snapped the macabre photo with his cell phone.
Musarella pleaded guilty last December to one count of official misconduct and was stripped of his EMT certification and sentenced to 200 hours of community service.
The suit wants Facebook to turn over the picture, identify those who viewed or downloaded it and destroy images in its possession. The lawsuit is also seeking a court mandate that Facebook cooperate with victims in the future.
Ronald and Marti Wimmer filed a civil suit against Facebook. Lanzilote for News
"We believe this suit is completely without merit and we will fight it vigorously," said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes via email.
The Wimmers' suit, filed Friday, also names Green leaf Arms Inc., which owned the apartment building, charging that the landlord failed to properly secure the building.
"I just feel like Mark Musarella took the last shred of dignity she had left," said Caroline's sister, Christina Criscitello, 34. "I just don't understand why Facebook won't give us the pictures back or destroy them. No one should be able to see them."
Share This Story to Your Friends ---
