Kerri Fidalgo’s friends and family spent more than a year searching for answers after her brutal death shook their New Bedford community. Last week, they got one — though it came with little comfort. The man who claimed a serial killer had murdered her has admitted that he was the killer all along.

Tyler Baglini Was Sentenced To Life In Prison

Tyler Baglini, 32, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Fall River Superior Court to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, 31-year-old Kerri Fidalgo. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. For prosecutors, the plea brought closure to a strange and tragic case. For Fidalgo’s loved ones, it underscored the loss of a woman they described as kind, ambitious, and selfless — someone whose life was just beginning to take shape. “I was so proud of the woman she was becoming,” said her mother, Melissa Fidalgo, in court. “I looked forward to so many happy times with her. Instead, I found myself planning her funeral.”

Baglini Initially Blamed A Serial Killer

On Sept. 20, 2024, Baglini walked into a Massachusetts hospital holding a bloody knife. He told doctors and police that a serial killer murdered his girlfriend and was now after him. Officers raced to Fidalgo’s basement apartment in New Bedford, where they found her suffering from multiple stab wounds. She was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital but did not survive. Authorities later determined that Fidalgo had been stabbed 14 times in the neck, head, and torso. She had defensive wounds on her hands, indicating she fought back.

His Story Fell Apart When Police Saw His Text Messages

For weeks, the story of a supposed serial killer on the loose spread anxiety across the community. But investigators soon uncovered the truth: there was no unknown assailant. Baglini, who had been in a relationship with Fidalgo, was the one who killed her. Court records revealed that the couple had exchanged “extensive” text messages the day before the attack, most of them about Baglini’s deteriorating mental health. Fidalgo urged him to get help. “Tyler, we can talk later. After you get checked out,” she texted him that morning. “You need help. You need to get better. You’re having an episode and you’re paranoid. Everything will be okay, but you need help. I love you. I care about you. Please.” Baglini replied: “Goodbye, I really loved you and I forgive you. Time to go to hell; you were the best thing that ever happened to me.”

A Light That Was Taken Away

He later told Fidalgo he was checking into a hospital, but prosecutors said he never did. Instead, he went back to her apartment and killed her. Fidalgo worked in the probation department at New Bedford District Court — the same courthouse where her killer stood trial. She also worked alongside her father as a caretaker at a residential management company. She lived with her parents and sisters and was deeply involved in her local community. Her family says she loved her job and cared about helping others find second chances — something she never got herself. In court, her mother’s words hung heavy in the room: “She was a light in our lives,” she said. “And he took that light away.”