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Centereach resident Marcello Molinari, age 38, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after his wife was found stabbed and wrapped in garbage bags and duct tape in the Pine Barrens of Middle Island in December 2021.
In pleading guilty, Molinari admitted to stabbing his wife 58 times, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
According to Tierney, on Nov. 2, 2021, Molinari and his wife Melissa were on vacation in Disney World in Florida with their children - ages 4, 12, 14, and 17 - when he learned of an alleged extramarital affair.
In response, Molinari cut the vacation short, and the family drove back to their Centereach home around Nov. 5, 2021.
Melissa Molinari was last seen alive on Nov. 21, 2021, and she was reported missing by a friend on Dec. 2 that year, the DA noted.
Tierney said that on Dec. 9, 2021, Molinari was arrested on the murder charge after his wife’s body was found by cadaver dogs wrapped in garbage bags and duct tape.
The subsequent autopsy determined that Melissa Molinari was stabbed 51 times.
As part of his plea, Molinari admitted to planning the murder, including researching what countries would not extradite him.
“It is unfathomable that someone can do what this defendant did to the mother of his four children, particularly during the Thanksgiving holiday,” Tierney said. “The brutal nature of the murder and the casual disposal of the victim’s body is especially disturbing.
“(Molinari’s) plea saves the four children from further trauma, and ensures that the defendant will serve a lengthy sentence.”
Molinari is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Wednesday, June 29.
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