Anna Maria Tolomello killed her partner and tried to bury him under her driveway

• A chilling crime shakes the community.
• A woman identified as Anna Maria Tolomello killed her partner and tried to bury him under her driveway
• After being discovered, Anna Maria Tolomello confessed everything.

She planned to dispose of her partner’s body. A woman identified as Anna Maria Tolomello was arrested for murdering her common-law husband. She hired a contractor to dig a huge hole and planned to pave it over. But her strategy did not end as she imagined.

Anna Maria Tolomello, 48, a Pennsylvania pizzeria owner, is accused of fatally shooting her longtime partner and hiring a person to dig a hole in her driveway where she planned to bury the body and then pave over him, according to People.

Anna Maria Tolomello wanted to get rid of a skunk smell

According to the criminal complaint obtained by People, Anna Maria Tolomello allegedly contacted a contractor three days after the murder of her 65-year-old common-law husband, Giovanni Gallina. She asked him to dig a hole seven feet long, three feet wide and three feet deep.

Around the same time, Anna Maria Tolomello allegedly asked a friend if she knew of an «any tricks» to get rid of a skunk smell in her garage, the criminal complaint stated. Of course, the stench did not really come from a skunk and all would be discovered later.

Anna Maria Tolomello said her partner was on a «business trip»

Police began investigating Giovanni Gallina’s disappearance on March 29 after his son, who lives in Italy, reported him missing. Their daily WhatsApp message conversations had ceased and he said he had not heard from his father since March 16 or 17.

Ana Maria Tolomello allegedly told him that his father Giovanni Gallina was out of town, «but did not provide any details about where Giovanni went or how long he would be gone,» the complaint read. «[His son] asked Tolomello where Giovanni went, and she refused to provide those details except to say Giovanni was away on business.»

She paid to have a hole dug in the driveway

Employees at Pina’s Pizzeria told police that Giovanni Gallina had not been at the restaurant for some time. Investigators spoke with the contractor on March 29, and he said that Anna Maria Tolomello communicated via text message on March 19 and, according to the complaint, she “asked (the contractor) to dig a hole in the driveway.”

«The [witness] asked why Tolomello needed the hole dug, but Tolomello would not provide any reason for needing the hole, only that she wanted to bury one or more items,» detailed the criminal complaint cited by People. Ana Maria Tolomello then allegedly told the contractor that she “would fill the hole back in herself with a shovel when she was done and have it covered with blacktop and turned down [the contractor’s] offers to help.”

Why did Ana Maria Tolomello kill her partner?

Authorities said the contractor used a bulldozer to dig the hole on March 29. Subsequently, Ana Maria Tolomello allegedly met with the contractor at Pina’s Pizzeria and paid him $350 for the work. He never imagined what her actual plans were.

When investigators executed a search warrant at the home, she admitted shooting Giovanni Gallina, but said she was acting in self-defense after he tried to strangle her in bed. Investigators found the victim wrapped in a blue tarp and duvet in the master bedroom. His head was covered with a black plastic garbage bag.

Tolomello is being held without bail

Ana Maria Tolomello said she cleaned up the scene after the murder and dumped the bloody mattress into a dumpster behind the pizzeria. She is now charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and possession of an instrument of a crime.

According to People, Ana Maria Tolomello was processed on Wednesday, March 30, and is being held without bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 19 and it is unclear whether she has pleaded guilty or hired an attorney to defend her against the charges.

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