Police: Man Kills Brother’s Ex-Wife To Keep Secret of Unborn Child
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Susan Ambrosino, 26, lived with her 8-year-old daughter, Taylor, just blocks from where she herself grew up at Franklin Square, on Long Island. The slightest hint of a belly beginning to show, the divorced mother of one was three to four months pregnant with her second child. A law enforcement source said yesterday that her alleged killer was the father of the unborn child.
The suspect, Steven Schiovone, 35, allegedly shot and killed Ambrosino, his brother’s ex-wife, to keep her from revealing that he was the father of her second child. Ambrosino was last seen, police said, leaving her home for dinner Monday at a nearby restaurant with Mr. Schiovone. When she failed to return, her mother, Susan Detz, called the Nassau County Police Department to report her missing.
At 7 a.m. Tuesday, a Queens resident found Ambrosino’s pocketbook on a street corner in the Jamaica section of Queens and called police to report the suspicious find. After combing the area, police found Ambrosino’s Nissan Altima on a quiet stretch of industrial road on 178th Street, a lieutenant with the 103rd Precinct detective squad, Patrick Wing, said. The doors were locked. In the trunk, authorities found Ambrosino, dead of a single .380-caliber gunshot wound to the left side of the head, just behind the ear. Law enforcement officials said she was probably shot as she sat in the passenger seat and that her body was later moved.
Police suspect Mr. Schiovone, a warehouse manager for a Long Island furniture company, who was known to have had a relationship with her. The woman had been married to Mr. Schiovone’s half-brother, Kevin Ambrosino. Police said they later recovered an illegal gun linked to Mr. Schiovone that they said matched the murder weapon.
Under state law, Mr. Schiovone cannot be charged with the murder of the unborn child. If convicted of second-degree murder in the slaying of Ambrosino, he could be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. A lawyer for Mr. Schiovone, William Petrillo, said his client had no involvement in the killing, the Associated Press reported.
