Man guilty of first-degree murder of Northampton mom of 2. How a phone call sealed his fate.
The day before the start of his degree of guilty murder trial, Thadius McGrath admitted to his father he intentionally killed his girlfriend, a Northampton mother of two.
“I went into the hallway. I thought about it, then I went back in and told her I was going to kill her and I hit her in the face with the ladder,” McGrath said in a phone call recorded Sunday and played in court Tuesday.
Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Wallace Bateman Jr. agreed, finding the 37-year-old Massachusetts man guilty of first degree murder in the 2022 death of Samantha Rementer.
More on the murder of Samantha Rementer Man admits to killing Northampton mom of two. But was it premeditated?
Bateman called the brutality of the murder – Rementer was beaten and then strangled with a lamp cord in front of her then 1- and 4-year-old children - particularly troubling.
“The facts in this case are quite clear and the evidence overwhelming,” he added. “This is not something you can recover from.”
The verdict capped two days of testimony after McGrath, of South Chatham, pleaded guilty to general homicide and related felonies and misdemeanors, but let Bateman decide if he was guilty of first- or third-degree murder. The latter murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 year in prison.
Defense attorney Keith Williams argued that his client didn’t have time to plan a murder in the 25 minute time window when authorities believe the crime took place.
Prosecutor Tom Gannon used McGrath’s own words in the Sunday prison call to his father in his closing remarks.
“It very, very much is first-degree murder,” Gannon said, quoting Mcgrath. “He knew exactly what he was doing by his own admission.”
The 31-year-old Rementer was found dead in her children’s bedroom in the 2000 block of Clarke Court on June 8, 2022. Her daughters were unarmed. Authorities described McGrath and Rementer as in a romantic relationship.
McGrath is not the father of Rementer's children, but he was a friend of her late fiancee and the father of the children, who passed away suddenly in 2021, authorities said.
Northampton police officers testified that Rementer was found on the floor covered with a blanket and what appeared to be a jacket. Blood was found throughout the bedroom including on furniture and the suspected murder weapons, a standing lamp and stepladder.
Rementer had extensive facial trauma and wounds and bruising from head-to-feet, according to a forensic pathologist. The lamp cord was wrapped around her neck three times and tied in a slipknot.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Zhongxue Hua testified Rementer had clear defense wounds on her hands.
“She definitely fought back,” Hua said.
Police found McGrath on the floor of the master bedroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face.
He survived the injury, but he has permanent head and facial injuries and wears a padded helmet to protect a hole on the right side of his head.
McGrath opted not to address the court, but he requested to be sentenced immediately and waived his right to a pre-sentencing report.
“Get it over with,” he told the judge. “There is already plenty of information.”
A NOVA Bucks representative read victim impact statements from Rementer’s sister and friend, who attended the trial with family and friends. Rementer’s mother did not want her statement read aloud.
Amy DiDonato recalled her friend as one of her favorite people, the little sister she never had. She was a selfless, caring and devoted mother whose children were her world.
“He knows what he did,” DiDonoto wrote. “How can someone do this to Samantha? Why in front of her children.”
Lauren Pisko wrote that helping McGrath was definitely one of the worst mistakes her sister ever made.
She recalled the last time she spoke with Rementer, the day she was murdered. She ordered balloons for a joint birthday party that Saturday for her daughters, and they planned a sleepover the night before the party.
Rementer ended the call telling Pisko she loved her.
“It just hurts so much,” Pisko wrote. “I lost my best friend and my sister.”
After hearing the statements, Bateman sentenced McGrath to life without parole plus 10 to 20 years in prison on the two counts of endangering the welfare of children and 17 years probation.
Bateman also ordered McGrath not to attempt to communicate with Rementer’s family.
“I’m sure they don’t want to hear an apology from you,” the judge added.
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: First-degree murder conviction in 2022 death of Samantha Rementer
