Thursday, November 09, 2006
Adrienne Shelley murdered
Physical State: achey
Mental State: lukewarm
Music: AToG on Live 365
Fashion sense: black t-shirt, jeans
To update the story from last week of Adrienne Shelley passing away it appears that her death was sadly a callous murder brought on by a noise complaint. This is truly sad news.
From the Guardian:
Construction worker: I killed Adrienne Shelly
A teenage Ecuadorean construction worker has admitted killing Adrienne Shelly, an actor who made her mark in films by Hal Hartley, in an angry exchange over noisy building renovations. Shelly, 40, who made her last appearance alongside Matt Dillon in last year's Factotum, was found dead last week in the Manhattan apartment that she used as an office.
Diego Pillco, 19, confessed under questioning that he fought with Shelly, tied a sheet around her neck, dragged her to the bathroom and hung her from the shower rod.
Shelly's body was discovered by her husband, Andy Ostroy, on November 1. Police had been hesitant to label the case a suicide, observing that no note was found and that trainer prints that did not match Shelly's shoes were recovered from a toilet seat.
Police said that Pillco had been working in an apartment located directly below Shelly. Under questioning, Pillco told them that Shelly had confronted him over noise emanating from the apartment and threatened to call the police. Pillco is then reported to have followed Shelley, pleading with her not to report him before grabbing her as she tried to enter her apartment. She tried to slap him away, and he responded by punching her in the head, a blow he said killed her.
Pillco is then reported to have claimed to hang the body in order to cover his tracks and make the slaying appear to be a suicide. But prosecutor Marit Delozier said there were no signs of serious head trauma. "This woman did not die from a strike to the head," she said. "The (medical examiner) has made it crystal clear that the victim died from compression to the neck."
Pillco was ordered held without bail pending a hearing tomorrow.
