Posted on 11/10/2006 7:40:00 AM PST by Conservomax
The construction worker accused of killing indie actress .Adrienne Shelly tied a sheet around her neck, dragged the unconscious woman to a bathroom - and strung her up while she was still breathing, sources said yesterday.
Then 19-year-old illegal immigrant Diego Pillco fled the West Village building and calmly went to work at another job site - leaving her to die in what originally appeared to be a suicide, the sources said.
"This woman did not die from a strike to her head," Assistant District Attorney Marit DeLozier said as Pillco was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Pillco "fought with the victim, tied a sheet around her neck and dragged her to the bathroom and hanged her from the curtain rod," DeLozier said.
Calling the case against the suspect "strong," DeLozier said the medical examiner "made it clear, crystal clear, that this victim died from compression to her neck."
"The defendant killed the victim and made it look like a suicide, which is especially egregious," she said.
Pillco told cops he was renovating an apartment directly below the flat Shelly used as an office last Wednesday when she came down to complain about the noise and they got into a screaming match.
The Ecuadoran immigrant confessed he threw a hammer at the 40-year-old married mom and - fearing that he might be deported - followed her upstairs when she threatened to call police, he told cops.
When they reached her door, Pillco said Shelly slapped him and he knocked her out with a punch. Then, unable to detect a heartbeat, Pillco said he dragged her to the bathroom to stage a suicide, sources said.
But in doing so, Pillco stood on the toilet and left behind a sneaker print that cops used to tie him to the cold-blooded crime, sources said.
Pillco said nothing at the hearing and did not enter a plea.
His Legal Aid lawyer, Thomas Klein, asked that the slightly built suspect be placed in protective custody and on suicide watch - standard procedure for high profile prisoners.
Meanwhile, Shelly's heartbroken husband, Andrew Ostroy, who had insisted that his wife would never kill herself, was left to mourn the actress, best known for roles in indie hits like "Trust," "Teresa's Tattoo" and last year's "Factotum."
"He's still in shock," a family friend said. "I don't know if he'll ever get over this."
The 47-year-old marketing executive who runs a liberal blog was holed up in his Tribeca loft with the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Sophie. In Jericho, L.I., where Shelly grew up, her mother, Elaine Langbaum, sat shiva.
Pillco worked for a Brooklyn-based construction firm called the BCG, which issued a statement saying the suspect worked only part time "because of his immigrant status."
Pillco lived with his brother, Wilson, in the basement of a building on the outskirts of Park Slope owned by his employer. And residents said he worked every day of the week except Saturday - and then toiled as the building's unofficial super.
Neighbor Delmi Restituyo, 32, said Pillco told her he paid $12,000 to get smuggled into the U.S. in July. "He worked so hard to support his family and pay off his debt," said Restituyo, 32.
At the Abingdon Square building where Shelly was murdered, some residents remembered Pillco differently. "I was walking down the stairs and I felt his stare," said Sara Moore, 72. "Only a woman would know."
I've liked her ever since. Just saw her in Factotum last night.
This is insane.
oops, mods, I just misspelled the title - anyway to change it to "Hanged"? Thanks.
Present the evidence to a jury. If found guilty, hang this peice of filth in return.
We need a central location to accummulate all of these illegal immigration crimes against our citizens. I bet they kill a lot more that the terrorist killed on 9/11.
The info would come in handy real soon.
Family values bttt
She was one of two illegal immigrant murders I read in the Daily News the other day. (And I didn't even have time to read a good portion of the paper, so, who knows, there may have been more.)
Well Bush has said that illegals take the jobs Americans don't want to do: Murderer, Rapist, etc.
All sarcasm aside, it's very sad.
They are coming here to feed their families and to do the jobs americans won't do....
Expect more of this type of stuff come January...............
She was in a cute little movie called "Big Girls Don't Cry...They Get Even." She played Griffin Dunne's love interest.
You need to ping the mods to get them to correct a title error.
At least the idiot botched the crime scene - he could have forever destroyed this woman's legacy if he successfully mocked the hanging.
I had never heard of her. You never know who you are messing with these days.
I tried.
We'd need a special sub-category for just the citizens killed by illegals driving here.
Thank you klintoon and shrub...
Yeah, she was quite the cutie.
Hey, the folks back home need the money, and we all know that these people are only doing work that American's won't do.
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