American man tells comatose wife he forgives her

Stephen Giraldo, 36 — who landed an expected 25 years behind bars for his heinous Christmas crime — addressed his estranged wife, Sophia Giraldo, a 41-year-old mum of three, who was not in court because she suffered “severe neurological damage” and remains in a coma after the December 27 attack.

“Sophia, I forgive you for not respecting me as your pre-designational husband, I forgive you for not honouring me as a good and loving father,” Giraldo blathered in Queens court before being sentenced.

“I forgive you, I forgive you, I forgive you,” he said.

Outside court afterwards, Sophia’s father, Pastor Charles Brooks, told The Post he and his family were “appalled” by Giraldo’s remarks.

“He is manipulative, deceitful, self-absorbed,” Brooks seethed.

Stephen Giraldo was sentenced in the attempted murder of Sophia, who he intentionally ploughed into with their children in the vehicle — then leaned over one of them to stab her through a window, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty in September.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky sentenced him to the 25-year prison term, with five years post-release supervision, and banned him from contacting Sophia and their children.

After emotional impact statements were read by the victim’s family, Giraldo delivered a supposed apology for his actions — but then told Sophia he forgave her.

“To Sophia, I never would have thought that this would be our new normal,” he said.

“Please forgive me for this unspeakable, unfathomable, unimaginable hurt I inflicted upon you. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you in any way, shape or form. I will always love you, you will always have a special place in my heart, and I pray for your recovery,” Stephen said.

He then added his twisted “I forgive you” comments.

He also apologised to their three young children — but then went on to give “some helpful suggestions” about topics their new guardian should discuss with them over dinner — before the judge interrupted him.

“We’re not going to do dinner table topics. We’re not doing that,” Yavinsky said.

Giraldo then asked his family and friends for “forgiveness.

“I will do my best to earn and regain your trust of everybody here in the courtroom,” he said — before adding that he wanted to “recommend two books.”

The judge quickly cut him off again, saying, “We don’t need book recommendations.”

Sophia’s father, Brooks, said afterwards to The Post, “Tell his wife, ‘I forgive you,’ and then have a whole list of … that’s characteristic of who he has been.”

Brooks added that the children are “doing better.

“Children are resilient,” he said.

Surveillance video recorded Giraldo pulling up to his estranged spouse’s home in a white Ford Explorer around 5:20am two days after Christmas.

He was supposed to be dropping off their children, ages 6, 9 and 11.

When their mother walked out, Giraldo told the kids to “keep your seatbelt[s] on” and hit the gas, prosecutors said.

The car struck Sophia and hopped kerb, and the impact sent it tumbling to one side — but the driver wasn’t done.

“Giraldo crawled over his son in the front passenger seat and out of the vehicle’s window and then stabbed his wife with a knife,” according to prosecutors. Sophia suffered “severe neurological damage,” broken leg bones and a stab wound through her liver, prosecutors said.

“This is one of the most brutal cases we have prosecuted,” Katz said in a statement.

“To tell your children to ‘buckle up,’ purposefully hit their mother, and then climb over your son to continue your attack with a knife is unconscionable. In holding the defendant accountable and securing a lengthy prison sentence, we hope we have achieved some measure of justice on behalf of the victim and her loved ones.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission