PITTSBURGH Spadafora ordered to stand trial

The shooting victim may not testify against the former lightweight champion.
MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. (AP) -- Former lightweight boxing champion Paul Spadafora was ordered to stand trial on attempted homicide and other charges for allegedly shooting his girlfriend last month.
But questions remain about whether Nadine Russo, 20, of Pittsburgh, is willing to testify against Spadafora. Russo didn't testify during Monday's preliminary hearing, but she appeared outside District Justice Mary Ann Cercone's office afterward.
She walked stooped over, shielded by an unidentified man who said she's still in pain from the chest wound she suffered Oct. 26. Russo declined comment, but Spadafora's attorney, William Difenderfer said he's heard that Russo won't testify.
Enough evidence
Brushing those concerns aside, Assistant Allegheny County District Attorney Edward Borkowski said there's enough witness testimony against Spadafora to warrant a trial.
"I will not comment on the state of her cooperation [with authorities]," Borkowski said. "The case will proceed with or without her cooperation."
Borkowski called four witnesses -- none of whom saw the shooting. But they painted a picture of the events before and after it that led Cercone to order Spadafora to stand trial on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and violation of firearms laws. He remains free on bond.
Convenience store clerk Mike Fabiann said Russo pulled Spadafora's sport utility vehicle into the parking lot sometime before 6 a.m., after flattening two tires by hitting a median strip. He said he saw the couple argue then walk away. He then heard a loud noise "like a backfire, a firecracker."
A customer, state prison guard Harry Nicoletti, went to help Russo as she staggered back to the lot. Seeing a bullet wound near her chest, Nicoletti covered it with his hand and talked to the woman and, eventually, Spadafora.
When asked if her boyfriend "did this" she "slurred the word 'yeah' in a moaning-type voice," Nicoletti said.
Samaritan chided
Spadafora then walked over and knelt down, cursing at Nicoletti to get his hands off her, according to the testimony. Nicoletti, who had already asked the store clerk to call 911, asked Spadafora to dial it again on his cell phone, which Spadafora did.
Nicoletti said Spadafora smelled as though he had been drinking and angrily threatened him. "You don't know who your messing with," Nicoletti said Spadafora told him.
Nicoletti said Russo indicated she wanted Spadafora to get in the ambulance with her -- a point Difenderfer seized upon.
Difenderfer argued that it "defies any logic" that Russo would want Spadafora with her if he had just shot her. Police said Spadafora initially told them he didn't know who shot his girlfriend, and later told a friend that a robber did it.
A police detective and a paramedic also testified. The detective said he found a five-shot revolver, containing one spent shell and five live rounds, near a tree the clerk said he saw Spadafora and Russo walking toward while arguing. The paramedic testified that Russo's wound was life-threatening, a necessary piece of evidence for the aggravated assault charge Spadafora faces.
The 28-year-old boxer, known as the "Pittsburgh Kid," didn't comment.