Man who Stabbed Cranston Woman 20 Times Pleads Guilty

The Bristol man who was charged with stabbing a former co-worker 20 times in a Cranston parking lot in July 2011 has pleaded guilty to assault with intent to murder.

Christopher Amaral, who refused the terms of a plea deal last year that would have given him a 14-year prison sentence, entered his guilty plea on Tuesday.

He'll be sentenced on Monday and could face the maximum 20 years in jail.

Police said the stabbing occurred after an argument. Police said Amaral stabbed her with an “unknown object” nine times and she suffered injuries to arms, chest, shoulders and neck, including an injury to a neck vertebrae.

When police first arrived at the scene, they found the victim, identified by police as 21-year-old Andrea Wilmot of Garden Street lying in the driveway with several stab wounds. She was immediately transported to Rhode Island Hospital, but her injuries were not life threatening. 

Police quickly determined Wilmot’s attacker was an estranged acquaintance who was apparently upset she was no longer interested in him.

Earlier in the evening, police said Wilmot went with her sister and boyfriend to the casino and when she left, discovered her car had been vandalized. She immediately thought Amaral was responsible “because she had been receiving calls from him all night and was told not to call again,”

When she got home, she was accosted by Amaral from behind as she got out of her car, police said. He initially just wanted to take a walk with her, but she refused. As they were saying goodnight, “he violently grabbed her and stabbed her” before fleeing the scene, police said.

Amaral’s identity was broadcast to surrounding police forces and he was spotted a short time later on Route 136 by Bristol Police, who turned him over to Cranston officers.

Wilmot's family told WPRI that Amaral was "obsessed" with the victim.

"This guy was just a weirdo, a stalker. He had this fascination with her and he wanted her to go out with him, and she didn't want to go out with him and wanted nothing to do with him," David Wilmot told WPRI.