Tacoma, WA Point Defiance Park attacker sentenced to 22 years

The Brief

  • A man who brutally attacked a woman on a Tacoma trail has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
  • Prosecutors say bystanders likely saved the victim’s life by stopping the stabbing at Point Defiance Park.
  • The victim said she still struggles with fear and trauma more than a year after the attack.

TACOMA, Wash. The man convicted in a horrific, unprovoked attack along a popular walking trail in Tacoma will spend more than two decades behind bars.

Nicholas Matthew, 27, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for stabbing a woman multiple times in the face and neck at Point Defiance Park on February 10, 2024.

The backstory:

Matthew was following 34-year-old Victoria Nizzoli along a trail near Five-Mile Drive and was “uncomfortably close” behind her. When she offered to let him pass, he laughed and refused.

Story continues

TRENDING NOW

LATEST LOCAL NEWS