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Anna Maria Tolomello, 50, pleaded guilty to the third-degree murder of Giovanni Gallina, prosecutors said in a release.
Tolomello was arrested in March 2022 after police said they found 64-year-old Gallina's body wrapped in a blue tarp in a bedroom of their shared Hilltown home. Officers were sent for a welfare check when Gallina's son said he hadn't heard from his father in over a week.
Tolomello reportedly told him that his father was out of town.
She later told police that she had shot Gallina once in the head in self-defense after he had strangled her, according to the criminal complaint.
She was also accused of hiring someone to dig a hole in their driveway to bury Gallina, investigators said at the time. She had allegedly told the worker that she would fill the hole up herself and have it covered, court papers showed.
Tolomello then asked a different person if they had "any tricks" regarding a skunk in her garage, including whether a certain store sold incense.
She eventually admitted to cleaning blood, wiping down the .38 caliber revolver she used, and attempting to mask the odor of Gallina's decomposing body, as well as planning to pave over the hole, the complaint stated.
In court on Monday, Tolomello admitted that her shooting of the 64-year-old was not justified, that she left his body in their home for 13 days, and that she took steps to dispose of the evidence, the DA's Office said.
In addition to the murder charge, she pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, prosecutors added.
Gallina was a dad of three and grandfather of two, according to a GoFundMe page launched for his funeral expenses.
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