BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 55-year-old Kirk F. Bielanin of Amherst was sentenced in Erie County Court to 12 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
According to the district attorney's office, between the late evening hours of May 30, 2022, and the early morning hours of May 31, 2022, Bielanin stabbed his estranged girlfriend, 60-year-old Diane Bird, once in the chest while inside Bird's home on Glen Oak Drive in Amherst. Bird died at the scene.
The district attorney's office said a co-worker went to check on Bird after she did not show up for work and found Bird dead near the front door and called 911. Bielanin was found in an upstairs bedroom by responding officers and was transported to ECMC where he was treated for a stab wound to his chest and a cut to his left wrist.
Bielanin pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter in November 2023.
