Amy Giordano
The Suitcase Murder
The married Rosario DiGirolamo was having an affair with Amy Giordano. From that affair
came little Michael DiGirolamo, 11 month's old at the time of his mother's disappearance, and his abandonment in the parking lot of Christiana Hospital by his father.
Investigators who were looking into the child abandonment issue soon found out that his mother had gone missing just the day before, June 8, 2007.
As they looked into the where-abouts of the father, they found that DiGirolamo had taken off for Milan, Italy, on June 14, 2007. After discovering on June 9th, the day Michael was found, the cell "pinged" off a tower near the hospital, he was charged with felony reckless endangerment of a child, and misdemeanor child abandonment. On August 2, 2007 he returned from Milan and turned himself in for the abandonment charges. He was released a few hours later.
Days after Giordano vanished, her purse was discovered in a bedroom closet of her third-floor apartment, still containing her wallet and identification cards. They also found blood spots in the apartment.
It was DiGirolamo's good friend, John A. Russo Jr., who finally gave up information details of the horrendous deed. He had helped DiGirolamo dispose of Giordano's body after killing her an hacking up the corpse.
Human skeletal remains, believed to be Amy Giordano, were found in a shallow pond on Staten Island and are undergoing genetic testing. Authorities searched the pond after getting information from Russo. He's now charged with evidence tampering.
DiGirolamo was arrested for the murder of Amy Giordano on Thursday, March 20, 2008. He's also charged with Fourth-degree evidence tampering.
Prosecutor Thomas P. Meidt told the court that the married DiGirolamo, now 33, confided to Russo that he was going to kill Giordano because he couldn't afford to support her and his own family. Within two days of the alleged slaying, DiGirolamo bought a reciprocating saw, contractor-grade plastic bags and drain cleaner at a Lowe's store where Russo was a manager.
DiGirolamo's wife, Maria DiMaggio, knew nothing about the affair or the baby. She promptly divorced him.
Resources and more reading...
http://www.nj.com/centraljersey/index.ssf/2008/03/millstone_man_arrested_in_mist.html
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/07/missing_mans_wife_knew_nothing.html
http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/case.cfm?id=46376
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/104-07042007-1373244.html
http://www.mahalo.com/Amy_Giordano
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6033014
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/NEWS01/804040337/1006/NEWS11
UPDATES
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03-12-09
DiGirolamo Pleads Not Guilty
Rosario DiGirolamo, pleaded not guilty yesterday to chopping up his mistress, Amy Giordano, and dumping her remains in a shallow pond in Staten Island.
DiGirolamo has been free on $1 million in bail and wearing an electronic tracking device around his ankle, for months, now.
Digirolamos' friend, John Russo, also pleaded not guilty, in front of Mercer County Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta, to charges of evidence tampering for allegedly helping with the disposal of the body, although the hands and head have never been found.
Pereksta accepted both pleas and scheduled June 24 as the next court date for DiGirolamo and April 24 for Russo. She continued DiGirolamo’s current bail and Russo’s recognizance bail.
John Russo is acting as his own lawyer. DiGirolamo faces life in prison if convicted.
Read resource details...
http://trentonian.com/articles/2009/03/10/news/doc49b5d67f3c4be788046565.txt
01/10/09
Rosario DiGirolamo Indicted
Rosario DiGirolamo was issued a grand jury indictment Friday for the murder of his mistress, Amy Giordano. DiGirolamo allegedly killed Giordano, hacked up her body, stuffed some of the remains in a suitcase, and left it in a shallow pond on Staten Island on June 9, 2008.
DiGirolamo, who is confined to his parents' Brooklyn home with electronic monitoring and a $1 million bond, also left his then 11-month-old son, Michael, in the parking lot of a Newark, Del., hospital after allegedly disposing of Giordano's body, Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Meidt said at an earlier bail hearing. DiGirolamo pleaded guilty to a child abandonment charge in that state.
DiGirolamo also was charged with fourth-degree tampering with evidence in the indictment handed up by a Mercer County grand jury. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Also named in the indictment was John A. Russo Jr., 44, of Staten Island, a friend of DiGirolamo who led authorities to the body. He was charged with one count of fourth-degree tampering with evidence and could face up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
An arraignment date has not been scheduled.
Resources...
www.philly.com
http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2009/01/10/news/doc49681c09d9c87326163205.txt
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2009/01/digirolamo_indicted_for_murder.html
04/19/08
Michael Ready for Adoption
Little Michael, abandoned by his father at a hospital after allegedly killing his mother, may be adopted by a woman related to the father.
Adoption chief Frank Perfinski said Annalisa Guidice of New York could have custody of Michael Sean DiGirolamo within a month, pending a study of the suitability of her household.
The state has fielded more than 150 calls from people interested in adopting the brown-haired toddler, Perfinski said.
DiGirolamo's parental rights were terminated after he pleaded guilty in November to abandonment and endangerment. Last month, New Jersey charged DiGirolamo with murder.
Authorities said, today, through DNA testing, skeletal remains found in a pond have been confirmed as Amy Giordano.
Read resources...
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/NEWS01/804180352
http://cbs3.com/delawarewire/22.0.html?type=nplocal&state=DE&category=News&filename=DE--MissingMom.xml
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/relative_of_dad_accused_of_kil.html
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hxASx0RYqqqUejVWxoaAbopcWLdAD904GJG00 No longer available