On deathbed, woman admits killing husband

updated 3:13 p.m. ET Nov. 19, 2004

SOMERVILLE, Mass. - A woman dying of cancer confessed to her daughter that she killed her husband years earlier and hid the body, authorities said this week after finding the remains inside a storage unit.

Authorities did not release the names, but a sister identified the woman as Geraldine DiMarzio Kelley, who died Nov. 12 at 54.

On her deathbed, the woman allegedly told her daughter that she had killed her husband, John Kelley, when they lived in California.

About 14 years ago, the woman had apparently begun telling her children that their father had been killed in a car accident, according to Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley and Geraldine Kelley’s sister, Tami DiMarzio.

“She told me he took off in the car and last she heard he had an accident, that he was hit by a truck or something,” DiMarzio told WBZ-TV.

Remains found
The woman’s daughter told police about the confession, and they found the man’s remains Thursday at a Somerville storage facility inside an unplugged freezer that was locked and sealed with duct tape, Coakley said.

The woman had shipped the freezer, with the body inside, from California six years ago, when she moved to Massachusetts, Coakley said.

An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause and approximate date of death.

“She believes she was a victim of domestic violence,” Coakley said. “Whether that is accurate, we just have no idea at this time.”

Ventura, Calif., police said they’ve been contacted by Massachusetts investigators about assisting with the investigation.

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