STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police have a suspect in custody in connection with the fatal stabbing that occurred during a home invasion Sunday night in Huguenot, according to an NYPD spokesman.

A photo of Peter Gialluisi and his wife, Vincenza, posted by family members on Facebook. A home invader stabbed the couple Sunday night, fatally wounding Peter, and badly injuring his wife. (Facebook)

The suspect, identified only as a 20-year-old man, white, was taken into custody on Monday at a Staten Island hospital where he was being treated for lacerations following the deadly altercation, police said.

No charges have yet been filed against the suspect, an NYPD spokesman said.

The violent incident occurred just before 10 p.m. Sunday when a burglar brutally stabbed a couple inside their home at 80 Venus Place, killing the 67-year-old husband and badly injuring his 66-year-old wife.

Police identified the victim as Peter Gialluisi.

A neighbor and friend of the family, John Lagotta, said the husband and wife were returning home from their son's house in New Jersey, where they had been celebrating their birthdays earlier in the day. The couple's birthdays were a day apart, he said, one on Sept. 1 and the other on Sept. 2.

When they got home, they found the intruder in their home.

The terrifying discovery resulted in a struggle, police said, and ended with the suspect fatally stabbing the husband in the face and hand. The victim's wife suffered several stab wounds to the head, neck and back.

Another neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said the victim's wife managed to reach his backyard screaming for help after she was stabbed.

"She came to us for aide; it was terrible -- very unexpected," he said.

The neighbor, who had been hosting a pool party with friends and family at the time, attempted to help the victim's injured husband, but was unable to reach him in the garage, he said.



"He was pretty much pinned up against the car -- the space was very small between the car and the side of the garage wall," he said.



EMS eventually arrived and transported the husband to Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay, where he later died. The victim's wife is currently in stable condition at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, police said.



Neighbors recalled the couple as kind and generous, and expressed shock over the violent act that occurred in their normally peaceful neighborhood.



"They were beautiful people," said one neighbor, adding, "Nothing like this has ever happened here before."

Lagotta noted that Gialluisi had health issues, and required a walker to get around. As police searched for evidence at the home, a walker could still be seen in the driveway near an SUV that had blood smeared on the door. A lamp post on the corner also remained covered in blood into Monday afternoon.

Police did not immediately release a name of the suspect currently in custody.