An unimaginable tragedy took place when a man stabbed his wife to death in their New York City apartment and left their baby alone with her body before he went to a nearby park and died by suicide.
Mary Kate Golding, who worked as a set designer on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Gossebumps, was found dead with a knife in her back in her family’s basement apartment in Astoria just after midnight on Tuesday, July 21, the New York Police Department confirmed to Us.
Golding’s husband, Joseph Azzaretto, was found dead about six hours later in Astoria Park.
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that Azzaretto, 33, reportedly left the couple’s 11-month-old son with Golding’s body before he headed to the park. The boy was found after Azzaretto allegedly called one of Golding’s friends to confess that he killed her.
A neighbor told the outlet that they heard the friend “screaming” after she discovered Golding’s body. The friend then “took the baby and walked out” of the apartment. The baby is now in the care of Golding’s parents, who arrived at the scene later.
The deaths have not formally been classified as a murder-suicide, according to the outlet. However, investigators believe Azzaretto killed Golding after they got into an argument.
Neighbors told the outlet that Azzaretto had been known to lose his temper.
“He was an angry person,” one neighbor said. “I decided to avoid him. I didn’t even look at his text messages.”
The New York City Police Department confirmed to Us that no arrests have been made in connection to the deaths.
Azzaretto’s family experienced another violent tragedy in the past after his younger brother, Nicholas Azzaretto, shot and killed their father, Frank Nicholas Azzaretto, in February 2020, according to WFMZ.
Nicholas, who was 20 years old at the time, killed Frank, 58, in the family’s Monroe County, Pennsylvania, home during a domestic dispute.
Frank and his wife, Patricia, were fighting over a phone bill when the patriarch became violent. Patricia testified in court that Frank started to throw plants and pictures before he pushed her around, according to the Pocono Record.
Nicholas went upstairs from the basement after he heard fighting and found Frank being physical with his mother. After Frank told Nicholas to go back to the basement and closed the door on him, Nicholas returned with a shotgun and shot his father in the shoulder.
Pellets entered Frank’s chest and he was taken to a hospital for treatment, where he was later pronounced dead.
During the court proceedings, the defense said that there was a history of abuse in the family and that Frank had an “apparent abuse streak in his personality.”
Nicholas eventually pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, and he avoided prison time by being ordered to undergo a decade of monitoring, supervision and specialized treatment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
