Vignola Jr. pleads guilty in throat-slashing

Joseph Vignola Jr., son of the former city councilman and controller, pleaded guilty in court today to aggravated assault in the May 2008 throat-slashing of an 18-year-old escort he met at a City Avenue hotel.

Vignola Jr., 21, a chubby-cheeked young man with short brown hair, has been out on bail. He will be sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes on Nov. 3.

His father, former city councilman and controller Joseph Vignola, and his mother were in court with their son.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Foster said today that Vignola Jr. and the woman had sexual relations in the hotel room then got into an argument. Vignola Jr. then punched the woman in the throat. He then straddled her and pinned her arms. When she was no longer responsive and he thought she was dead, he took a knife and slit her throat.

The victim testified at a preliminary hearing in September 2008 that she didn't remember what happened because of the trauma.

She testified that on May 28, 2008, she was working as an escort out of a room at the North American Motor Inns hotel on City Avenue near Belmont in the Wynnefield Heights section of the city. She had arrived at the hotel about 1 or 2 p.m. and had sexual relations with about two clients before Vignola came to her door that night, she said.

She said she remembers seeing his face, but doesn't recall what happened afterward. "All I remember is waking up at the hospital," she said.

From that night, she had a gash on her neck, minor cuts on her lip, and minor cuts on her knees, "like someone dragged me," she said.

Foster said the woman's throat was slashed from one side of her neck to the other and she had experienced significant blood loss. He said her right wrist was bound with her bra.

Vignola had arranged the meeting with the woman after finding her number on the Craigslist website.