Diego Pillco

Case overview

Diego Pillco pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the killing of Adrienne Shelly (also credited as Adrienne Shelley), an American actress, director and screenwriter. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole on March 6, 2008.

Background

Adrienne Shelly was born Adrienne Levine in Queens, New York, to Sheldon M. Levine and Elaine Langbaum. She had two brothers, Jeff and Mark, and was raised on Long Island. She began performing when she was about 10 at Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center, and made her professional debut in a summer stock production of the musical Annie while she was a student at Jericho High School in Jericho, New York. She studied at Boston University, majoring in film production, but dropped out after her junior year and moved to Manhattan.

Shelly’s career breakthrough came when she was cast by independent filmmaker Hal Hartley as the lead in The Unbelievable Truth (1989) and Trust (1990). Trust was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where Hartley’s script tied for the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Shelly wrote, co-starred in, and directed the 2007 film Waitress, which won five awards and numerous film festival accolades.

Shelly lived in an Abingdon Square apartment in Manhattan’s West Village that she used as an office. She used the apartment as the base of a career that included leading or featuring roles in two dozen Off Broadway plays as well as movies and television shows. Her last known work involved writing, directing, co-set- and costume-designing, and playing a supporting role in Waitress, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Shelly’s husband established the Adrienne Shelly Foundation after her death, which awards scholarships, production grants, finishing funds and living stipends to artists.

The offence

Adrienne Shelly was found dead on November 1, 2006. Her body was hanging from a bed sheet tied to a shower rod in the bathtub of the Abingdon Square apartment in Manhattan’s West Village that she used as an office.

At the time of her death, investigators initially thought it might be suicide. A taped confession from Diego Pillco implicated him in the killing after she was found dead. Pillco said he tied a bed sheet around Shelly’s neck, decided to strangle her, and then decided to stage the hanging so it would appear to be a suicide. The medical examiner determined that Shelly was still alive when hanged.

Pillco’s account changed during legal proceedings. In his guilty plea, he said that Shelly had not complained about noise, but had caught him stealing money from her purse after he slipped unnoticed into the apartment. He said that when she tried to call the police, he grabbed the phone and covered her mouth as she began to scream. After Shelly fell, Pillco tied a bed sheet around her neck and decided to strangle her. He admitted that he choked her with a sheet, tied it around her neck and stringing her up to make it look like she committed suicide.

Before the guilty plea, Pillco had told police that Shelly complained about noise on the day of her death, and that he had followed her into her apartment to stop her from making a complaint because he was afraid of being arrested and deported. In that earlier account, he punched her, knocked her unconscious, and then decided to fake a suicide. Another reported earlier account described verbal sparring after she came downstairs to complain of construction noise.

Investigation

The New York City Police Department was suspicious of sneaker prints in the bathtub that did not match Shelly’s shoes; Shelly was found wearing only socks. Her husband also indicated that there was money missing from Shelly’s wallet. He denied allegations that she would have committed suicide.

Detectives from the Sixth Precinct in Greenwich Village were troubled by an unexplained footprint found in the bathroom. They examined the shoes of everyone who had entered the apartment, including police officers and emergency workers, and found no match for the print. They canvassed the building and found renovation work was under way in some apartments. The detectives matched the footprint from Shelly’s bathroom to one they found at a work site, and then used the match to track down Diego Pillco.

Pillco made his admissions early on after police picked him up and took him to the Sixth Precinct station house.

Arrest

Police arrested Diego Pillco on November 6, 2006. He was a 19-year-old Ecuadorian construction worker. He had arrived in the city in July and was working in a third-floor apartment directly beneath the one Shelly used as her office at 15 Abingdon Square in Greenwich Village.

Neighbors described Pillco as hard-working and respectful. Frank Lingo said: “He sent money home to his mother and father,” and “He minded his business. He never bothered me or anyone else near here. He seemed like a good kid. I’ve never seen him hang out.” Chris Pannhorse said: “He was always respectful to me and my wife. He’s a good kid. Because that is what he is to me, just a kid.”

Plea and sentencing

Diego Pillco entered his guilty plea on February 14, 2008.

At Pillco’s sentencing on March 13, 2008, Shelly’s husband and family members said they would never forgive Pillco. Justice Carol Berkman sentenced Pillco to 25 years in prison as part of a negotiated deal in which he agreed in February to plead guilty to manslaughter. The sentence was without parole. Pillco was eligible for a reduction of a maximum of 3 ½ years for good behavior, but not for parole.

At sentencing, Andy Ostroy said:

"...you are nothing more than a coldblooded killer"

and he added:

"and that he hoped he would "rot in jail""

In remembering Shelly, Ostroy said:

"Adrienne was the kindest, warmest, most loving, generous person I knew. She was incredibly smart, funny and talented, a bright light with an infectious laugh and huge smile that radiated inner and outer beauty... she was my best friend, and the person with whom I was supposed to grow old"

Ostroy also told the court that Pillco had “sentenced that little girl to a lifetime of anguish and sadness and questions and feelings of what could’ve been.” Ostroy continued:

"No sentence," he added, "would be enough for you."

On March 13, 2008, Justice Carol Berkman told Shelly’s family:

“I hope that the task of raising that child and raising her as a healthy, wonderful person like her mother will at least comfort you,”

Pillco responded through a translator:

“I came with a purpose here, to work and help my family out,”
“But my life has changed.”

He said he accepted the justice of his punishment:

“I left my house with the purpose of working, not to hurt anyone, and this is what I deserve,” he said.

Outcome

Diego Pillco pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole on March 6, 2008. The medical examiner ruled that Shelly died as a result of being hanged, and the manner and cause of death had been under determination before the ruling.

Other details

Adrienne Shelly’s parents and family included her mother Elaine Levine (also referred to as Elaine Langbaum) and her husband Andrew Ostroy (also written as Andy Ostroy). Shelly had a daughter, Sophie (born 2003), who was two years old at the time of her mother’s death.

A lawsuit was filed by Shelly’s husband against Bradford General Contractors, which had hired Pillco. The complaint alleged that Shelly would still be alive if the contracting firm had not hired Pillco. Ostroy also sought to hold the owners and management of the building liable for Shelly’s murder. On July 7, 2011, Judge Louis York dismissed the lawsuit, writing:

"While this court sympathizes with [Ostroy's] loss, plaintiffs have not presented sufficient legal grounds upon which to hold Bradford ... liable for Pillco's vicious crime"

The court also held there was insufficient evidence presented to find that either the building’s management agents or its owners had reason to believe that Pillco was a dangerous person who should not have been allowed to work at the premises in order to find them vicariously liable.

Legacy included the Adrienne Shelly Foundation established by Ostroy, and a memorial initiative. On August 3, 2009, the Adrienne Shelly Garden was dedicated on the Southeast side of Abingdon Square Park in NYC at 8th and 12th, facing 15 Abingdon Square, the building where Shelly died.

The NBC crime drama series Law & Order broadcast an episode titled “Melting Pot” on February 16, 2007, described as a thinly-veiled dramatization of Shelly’s murder. Shelly had guest-starred on Law & Order in the 2000 episode “High & Low.” Her film Waitress had been accepted into the 2007 Sundance Film Festival before her murder, and the film was bought during the festival by Fox Searchlight Pictures for an amount between $4 million and $5 million. Waitress realized a final box-office draw of more than $19 million.

Shelly’s mother Elaine Levine spoke at sentencing; during the proceedings, Elaine Langbaum hissed:

“I don’t think you’ll get that sir,” and she said:

and at the plea proceedings she had been described as saying:

At sentencing, in response to Ostroy’s anger, a statement included that he called Pillco an animal and a beast and said:

“I want you to suffer like she suffered,” “to live a life of fear, the same fear she felt when she realized she was about to die.”