The Murder of Patricia Mery

For this case I watched an episode of Death by Gossip. It’s season 1 episode 4, titled ‘Mother’s Day Murder.’

A popular high school Spanish teacher is killed in her home.

Background

Patricia or Pat as many called her, was a mother of two grown children, Anne and John. Pat also taught Spanish at Westhill High School, in Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford was about 45 minutes away from her home in the small town of Ossining, New York.

A Horrible Tragedy

In 2002, a few years before Patricia was killed, her son John, 21, tragically passed away in a motorcycle crash. Patricia and Anne were devastated. John had looked after his mom, and was loved by everyone.

Pat decided to retire, so she could spend more time with her daughter. However, Anne found other ways to grieve. Anne started going out more, and began to hangout with a rough crowd.

Anne began a relationship with a local boxer named Ron Kerner. They had met at a club, and began a relationship. There were rumors that Ron was connected to the mob, and many believed that Anne liked his bad boy image. Pat didn’t approve, but Anne didn’t care.

Months later, Anne got pregnant. Anne told Ron that she had gotten an abortion, and she cut off all communication with him. Anne had told her family that the father of the baby didn’t want to anything to do with the baby, and they didn’t ask too many questions.

Anne’s daughter Arianna was born, and Pat was so excited to be a grandmother.

The Other Side

Anne was still grieving with the loss of her brother. While Pat found comfort in church, Anne found a different way to connect with John.

Anne went to a physic named Lisa (unsure of this is her real name), where Lisa told Anne that John was in the room with them. She also said that she saw that something was going to happen to someone close to her.

Anne spent more time with Lisa, and became close with Lisa’s daughter Carmella Magnetti. They started to spend time with Arianna as well, and became obsessed with the little girl.

Pat didn’t like it, but she wanted to be supportive of Anne. She also didn’t want to lose the chance to see her granddaughter, so she kept the peace between the two families.

On Halloween night in 2005, Anne received messages from “John.” The messages said that she needed to stay away from their mom, and that she and their uncle Mike were trying to kidnap Arianna. Anne left, and moved in with Lisa and Carmella. They blocked Pat from seeing Arianna, but Pat fought back, and went to family court to get visitation rights to see her granddaughter.

The Murder

On Thursday, May 11, 2006, Pat was supposed to attend a meeting at church. She never showed up.

By May 14, Mother’s Day, Pat’s family still hadn’t heard from her. Her brother was concerned, and went to her house. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He knew that one of the windows in the home was always unlocked, so he climbed through it.

Mike eventually found Pat lying on the floor in the living room. She had been stabbed 24 times with a butcher knife, and beaten with a baseball bat.

The police were called, and they determined that Pat had been dead for three days. There were some suspicious items at the crime scene. A hair was found, and note that said Pat and Mike had hired someone to kidnap Arianna. The note also suggested that Pat was killed by the kidnapper, after they backed out of the deal.

The Suspects

The first person that the police needed to talk to was Anne. They told her that her mom was murdered, and Anne was devastated. She said she and her mom had been trying to work things out, and was even going to let her mom see Arianna. She told them that she, Carmella and Arianna had been at the mall in White Plains, at the time of the murder. She provided a receipt from the mall, and gave the police a name of someone to look into: Ron Kerner.

Ron was Anne’s ex-boyfriend, and Anne said that Ron would have wanted to kill Pat if he found out she had kept the baby. When the police went to speak to Ron, he said he had no idea he was a dad. He also had an alibi, he had been at a boxing match. He was eliminated as a suspect.

The next suspect was Mike, Pat’s brother. Mike told the police that he and Pat hadn’t been on speaking terms at the time she died. He explained that Pat and Anne had been visited by CPS (Child Protective Services) about alleged abuse in the home. CPS found no evidence of abuse, but Anne blamed Mike for calling CPS. Mike said he was shocked when Pat took Anne’s side. Mike believed that the call had come from Carmella and her mom. Mike also had an alibi, he had been out prom dress shopping with his daughter. He was eliminated as well.

The investigation then turned to Carmella and her mom. However, Carmella stuck to her story. She said she had been with Anne and Arianna at the mall. Carmella’s mom was ruled out, she had been gambling at the time of the murder.

A Murderous Plot

The police checked the surveillance footage from the mall. They did see Carmella and Arianna, but Anne no where to be found. The police confronted Carmella, and she cracked.

Carmella told the police that she had dropped Anne off at Pat’s home on May 11, and then took Arianna to the mall to create an alibi.

The phone records of Anne and Carmella matched her story. Anne went to Pat’s home to talk, and killed her. The hair at the crime scene matched Anne, her DNA was found on the knife, and a handwriting analysis proved that Anne had written the note.

On August 4, 2006, Anne was arrested for the murder of her mom. She maintained her innocence.

Carmella was arrested for hindering the prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Convictions

Anne’s trial began in September 2007. It didn’t take long for the jury to find her guilty of second degree murder. She was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Carmella was sentenced to 4 years for hindering the prosecution and tampering with evidence. She was released in 2011.

Other

The instant messages from “John” were traced back to a computer inside the home of Carmella and her mom.

Ron was awarded custody of Arianna, and said she’s his princess.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Mike was right all along. Carmella and her mom are horrible people, and took advantage of a young woman who was devastated over the loss of her brother. I’m not saying Anne is innocent at all, but she was so convinced that Pat and Mike were trying to take her daughter away from her. Anne took her mom’s life, and took away the time that she could’ve had with her daughter. Now, she’ll rot in prison instead.

Sources

https://thecinemaholic.com/patricia-merys-murder-where-is-anne-trovato-now/

https://westchester.news12.com/mother-murder-case-opens-with-claim-of-evil-curse-34912393

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/nyregion/08teacher.html

https://www.telegram.com/article/20070927/news/709270389

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/hair-knife-allegedly-ties-mom-slay-article-1.245280

https://obits.lohud.com/us/obituaries/lohud/name/john-trovato-obituary?pid=149084102