Pizza shop owner kills business partner, leaves body in her home for days, officials say
A pizza shop owner has pleaded guilty to the “unjustified” killing of her long-time business and common law partner, Pennsylvania officials say.
Anna Maria Tolomello, 50, of Hilltown Township, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse related to the 2022 death of Giovanni Gallina, according to an April 8 news release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
“Ms. Tolomello pleaded guilty to Murder in the 3rd degree with a negotiated sentence of 18 - 40 years,” Tolomello’s attorney told McClatchy News in a statement April 9. “This was not a decision taken lightly but was believed to be a fair resolution to the case.”
Tolomello and 65-year-old Gallina operated Pina’s Pizza in Chalfont together, officials said They were also common-law partners, according to WCAU.
Around the end of March 2022, Gallina’s son told police that he had not been able to contact his father since March 16, prompting an investigation, the attorney’s office said.
A witness told police Tolomello asked them to dig a hole so she could “bury one or more items,” in her yard three days after Gallina’s death, stating that her partner was “away,” WCAU reported.
When police arrived at the couple’s home on March 29, 2022, to execute a search warrant, Tolomello told them she knew why they were there, that she had shot Gallina in self defense on March 16, and that his body was “wrapped up” in the bedroom, officials said previously.
According to prosecutors, Gallina was shot in the head.
More than two years after her arraignment on the day her trial was to begin, Tolomello pleaded guilty to the death of Gallina, officials said.
“Tolomello admitted her killing of Gallina was unjustified, that she left his body in their home for 13 days, and that she disposed of evidence related to his murder,” the district attorney’s office said.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 25, officials said.
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