Palm Harbor, Florida. When paramedics found 85-year-old Anthony Tomaselli unresponsive in his home on March 6th of 2015, nobody was immediately suspicious.
It was slightly before 6 in the morning, and despite the best efforts of the paramedics to perform CPR, Anthony had already passed away.
Anthony had a history of medical problems including dementia and cancer, and he was well into his 80s, so authorities truly suspected his death was not due to any kind of foul play.
It certainly seemed that Anthony had died due to natural causes, and when his daughters Linda Roberts and Mary-Beth Tomaselli were interviewed, what they said backed it up.
“The sisters were interviewed separately by deputies and both stated their father fell asleep on the couch the night prior and when they went to check on him in the morning, he was not breathing,” the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“The sisters advised they attempted CPR and called 911.”
Although what Linda and Mary-Beth said seemed to all add up, it turns out that in reality, they offed their own dad and nearly got away with murder.
Four years went by without anyone being the wiser to what really happened, and then on February 13th, 2019, detectives with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office received one strange call.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office; pictured above is Mary-Beth in her mugshot
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The man on the other end of the line said that he had met Mary-Beth at a bar before developing an intimate relationship with her.
Mary-Beth then introduced this man to Linda, and Linda went on to have an affair with this same guy.
As time went on, this guy said that he thought Linda was exhibiting some strange behavior. One day when he was invited over to her house, she confessed to this man that she and her sister had killed their dad.
This man thought quickly and recorded the conversation on his phone, which he handed over to the authorities.
Working with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, he helped get more recordings of Linda and also of Mary-Beth regarding what they did to their dad.
“Detectives advised both women stated on the recording, the killing was “premeditated” and that they “euthanized” their father because he was going to die within a couple months and would not live in an Assisted Living Facility,” the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office explained.
“Their initial plan was to give him alcohol and an excessive amount of sleeping pills, but when that was not effective, they first attempted to suffocate him by placing a pillow over his face.”
“When that did not work, they stuffed a rag down his throat, pinched his nose, and held his arms down until he stopped breathing and died.”
Linda and Mary-Beth both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Linda was given 20 years behind bars, while Mary-Beth was given 15.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office; pictured above is Linda in her mugshot