True Crime Tuesday: Adrienne Shelly - Murder by Suicide

 

Born on June, 24, 1966 in Queens, NY, Adrienne Shelly knew she wanted a career in show business from a young age. After graduating from Jericho High School, she moved to Boston and majored in film production at Boston University. Her time receiving a formal education was cut short when she dropped out of school in her junior year.

Adrienne Shelly Chased Stardom

Adrienne was in a hurry to explore show business firsthand. After leaving Boston for Manhattan, she started going out on auditions. She landed her first role in the 1989 film The Unbelievable Truth with director/writer Hal Hartley. The two would work together in the following year’s production of Truth.

Throughout the 90s and into the early 2000s, Ms. Shelly appeared in a number of films, although few of them featured her in starring roles. She also appeared in several TV shows, including Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Streets.

The Trust Star Makes Her Own Luck

It seemed Adrienne Shelly’s show business career was faltering, but she wasn’t the type to give up. Rather than continuing to audition for small parts that weren’t taking her anywhere, she started working on her own project. The film, released on May, 25, 2007, was called Waitress. Shelly wrote and directed it. She also starred in the film alongside Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, and Jeremy Sisto.

Waitress is a romantic comedy about a pregnant waitress trapped in an unhappy marriage. Things change for her when a stranger arrives in her sleepy town and sparks a romance with her. The film was received well, earning critical and commercial success.

Unfortunately, Adrienne Shelly wouldn’t live to enjoy the fruits of her success.

Adrienne Shelly Commits Suicide on November 1, 2006...Or Does She?

On November 1, 2006, Andy Ostroy, director and husband of Shelly, knew that the actress-turned-director has been working in her Manhattan office. It was a West Village apartment that Adrienne rented specifically to use as a work studio. After a long day without any contact with his wife, Ostroy became worried.

Andy drove to the apartment building and, upon arriving, asked the building’s doorman to accompany him up to Shelly’s unit. The two men found the apartment door unlocked. As they entered the unit, they searched for Adrienne and found her body hanging from a bed sheet in the bathroom. One end of the bed sheet had been tied to the shower rod with an elaborate knot while the other end was wrapped around the late actress’ neck.

A brief police investigation determined that Adrienne Shelly had committed suicide in spite of the fact that her wallet had been searched. It was determined that money was missing. The initial autopsy seemed to support the assumption made by the police, determining that deep neck compressions had caused the death.

Andy Ostroy Fights for a More Thorough Investigation

No one knew Adrienne Shelly as intimately as Andy Ostroy and, as her husband, he knew she would never have taken her own life. Recognizing the fighting spirit in his wife, Andy pushed for police to dig a little deeper. Ostroy was convinced that Adrienne’s death was the result of foul play.

The police eventually relented and made a more thorough inspection of Shelly’s West Village rental unit. In the bathroom, investigators found a shoe print that didn’t match Adrienne’s shoes. Later, they traced the shoe print to a nearby construction site.

Investigators Make an Arrest in the Murder of Adrienne Shelly

Five days after Adrienne’s death, police arrested a construction worker who had been working at the site on the day of Shelly’s death. They matched the shoe print to his shoes, and that was enough to bring 19-year-old Diego Pillco in for questioning.

During the interrogation, Pillco confessed to the killing and to staging the faked suicide scene. He explained that Ms. Shelly had visited the construction site to complain about the noise. Diego said that he grew enraged and threw a hammer at Ms. Shelly, which he stated had struck her in the head.

As Shelly ran from the site, Pillco became afraid that she would report the incident to the police. Since he was an illegal immigrant, he was concerned that the complaint will result in his deportation. To prevent that outcome, Diego chased after her and followed her up to her apartment.

Pillco claimed that there was a struggle and that he ultimately punched her with enough force to send her hurtling backwards. As she fell, Diego said that she hit her head on the floor, leaving her unconscious. Believing the fall had killed her, he pulled her body to the bathroom where he would stage the suicide.

The Trial Brings Out the Truth of Adrienne Shelly’s Death

There were several facts about the case that didn’t quite match up with Diego Pillco’s confession.

1. Shelly wasn’t wearing her shoes when her body was discovered.

2. There wasn’t any dust from the construction site on her shoes.

3. Shelly had not suffered any head trauma.

4. Pillco’s confession didn’t explain the neck compression.

Prosecutors charged Pillco with murder, hoping he would reveal the truth in exchange for a lesser charge. The ploy worked.

Diego confessed at his 2008 trial that he had seen Adrienne walking towards her apartment and thought it would be easy to rob her. He still owed $12,000 to smugglers for helping him get into the country and hoped any cash he got from Shelly would help him pay off that debt.

Pillco followed Shelly to her apartment, waiting for an opportunity to nab her purse. Adrienne noticed him before he had the chance. Pulling out her phone, she threatened to call the police. In a panic, Pillco said that he grabbed the phone from her and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming out.

Diego explained that he knocked her unconscious and used the bed sheet to strangle her. Once he believed she was dead, he brought her into the bathroom to stage the suicide scene.

A second autopsy confirmed Pillco’s latest confession. It also revealed that Adrienne had still been alive at the time Diego hanged her from the shower rod.

Diego Pillco Pleads Guilty

After his second confession, prosecutors accepted Pillco’s guilty plea for first degree manslaughter. Currently, Diego is serving a 25-year sentence without the possibility of an early parole. Upon completing his sentence, Pillco will be deported to his home country of Ecuador.

Andy Ostroy filed a lawsuit against the construction company that had employed Diego Pillco. In the suit, he claimed that Adrienne Shelly’s death was the result of the construction company’s policy of hiring undocumented workers. The judge dismissed the case, stating the lawsuit lacked legal grounds.

"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." - Andy Ostroy