A Peabody man was found guilty of shooting his wife to death with a shotgun a month after she had filed for divorce in 2018.
Ersilia Cataldo Matarazzo, 50, had filed for divorce from her husband Emilio Matarazzo on Nov. 15, 2018, and moved out of the couple’s Peabody home to live with her parents on Central Avenue in Everett.
On Dec. 19, 2018, Emilio Matarazzo — angered by the divorce and fearful that she was having an affair, according to prosecutors — shot her to death as she sat in her car, ready to leave for work as a secretary at St. Anthony’s Parish in Everett.
On Tuesday, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found Emilio Matarazzo guilty of first-degree murder. The sentencing is scheduled for Thursday.
“Intimate partner violence continues to be a significant public safety and public health issue. Ms. Cataldo Matarazzo had been subjected to a long history of abuse that escalated when she tried to leave the defendant,” Middlesex DA Marian Ryan said in a statement following the verdict.
“We know that when a victim decides to leave a relationship that time can be incredibly dangerous and in this case Ersilia Cataldo Matarazzo was senselessly murdered when she left the defendant and filed for divorce.”
Prosecutors said that Ersilia Matarazzo soon began opening up to family and friends about the strangling, hitting, scratching and other abuse she had suffered at the hands of her husband over their 30-year marriage — and that Emilio Matarazzo “just snapped” when he got word of the accusations.
On Dec. 18, 2018, Ersilia Matarazzo and her father had put on a Christmas gathering at St. Anthony’s, the Oakes Street church where she worked since 2005 and was a “smiling fixture,” according to a contemporary statement from the Rev. Jairo Alfonso.
It was not a good time, however, as Emilio Matarazzo showed up and demanded to see his wife, according to prosecutors. Prosecutor Carrie Spiros said that “She expressed a significant amount of fear. … She hid herself in the church.”
Church leaders asked him to leave.
The next morning, Emilio Matarazzo traveled to Everett with a 12-gauge shotgun and arrived at his estranged wife’s parents’ home before she had left for work. Witnesses told police that sometime between 8:30 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. — when police responded to the shots fired call — they could hear Ersilia Matarazzo’s piercing screams.
Her mother would rush out to try to give any help she could to her daughter, but nothing could be done. Police would find Ersilia Matarazzo sitting in her car, obvious gunshot wounds to her torso and face. Six shell casings were scattered around the vehicle.
The defendant turned himself in, telling police he was “not good,” prosecutors said. But he still pleaded not guilty to the charge at his arraignment on Dec. 20.
Ersilia Matarazzo had two sons with her killer, Carmine and Giuseppe. She was also a volunteer member on the Everett Board of Assessors, former school committee member and board of registrars and second cousin to the city’s then-mayor, Carlo DeMaria, according to previous Herald reporting.