A Massachusetts man pleaded not guilty in Middlesex Superior Court Friday to charges of murdering a 34-year-old Woburn woman and her 12-year-old daughter.
Michael Bizanowicz, 41, was charged with the January murders of Joanne Presti and her daughter Alyssa, both of whom had their throats slashed. He had been living near the Prestis’ in Woburn with his girlfriend, who was friends with Joanne Presti.
Bizanowicz was classified as a Level 3 sex offender – the most severe classification under Massachusetts law – and had previously been convicted of eight counts of child rape, illegal possession of a firearm and violation of a restraining order. Though he had registered as living in Lowell, Bizanowicz spent much of his time at his girlfriend’s residence in Woburn.
The Prestis’ surviving relatives said the mother and daughter had no idea Bizanowicz was a sex offender while he was playing kickball with Alyssa Presti.
Massachusetts law requires that all convicted sex offenders register where they are living after their release from prison.
In a press conference held 15 minutes after the arraignment, Joanne Presti’s brother Mark lambasted the state for failing to protect his sister and niece.
“The state has failed my family,” he said. “If Massachusetts was held to the national standard of sexual offender law, Joanne and Alyssa could be alive today.”
The Presti family, along with state Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Newton), who was also at the press conference, said they are not letting the issue of sex offender registration go unnoticed and are proposing a bill called the “Joan and Alyssa Act.”
The bill would require all sex offenders to register at every residence they frequent, including houses of significant others or relatives.
Koutoujian’s legislation also calls for a new commission to review and reform the sex offender registry board. The bill would mandate an intensive parole program for sex offenders similar to the one currently operated by the Middlesex County Parole Board, which would include a registry board that works in conjunction with parole officers to track sex offenders.
It would also require sex offenders to be classified before they are released from prison, instead of months afterward at a hearing, as is the practice now. According to the information given by the Presti family, there are approximately 2,000 unclassified sex offenders in Massachusetts.
The bill also calls for an annual public service campaign to raise public awareness about the sex offender registry and encourage citizens to go to their local police departments and view the list of registered sex offenders in their area.
The act also requires sex offenders to register for life, no matter where they move within the state.
Lifetime registration was especially important for the family, as relative Marie Presti said from “1994 to ’95, 40 percent of offenders only served three of the eight years they are sentenced to for their crimes.” She added that 84 percent of rapes go unreported.
Koutoujian filed the bill and said that sex offender registration is a local problem that has to be dealt with.
“This doesn’t happen to other people,” he said. “It happens to our daughters, sisters, brothers and sons. Monsters don’t just live in some other town.”
Bizanowicz’s trial is set to begin May 26.
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