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Pizzeria Owner Who Killed Partner In Bucks Home Learns Her Sentence: DA

Maria Tolomello will spend up to 40 years in a Pennsylvania prison for the murder of Giovanni Gallina, prosecutors said in a release.

Pina's PIzzeria, 215 E Butler Ave, Chalfont; Inset: Anna Maria Tolomello, Giovanni Gallina

Pina's PIzzeria, 215 E Butler Ave, Chalfont; Inset: Anna Maria Tolomello, Giovanni Gallina

Photo Credit: Google Maps (Street View) // Bucks County District Attorney's Office // Courtesy of GoFundMe "Remembering Giovanni Gallina"

Tolomello, who owned Pina's Pizza in Chalfont together with Gallina, previously pleaded guilty to shooting the 64-year-old in the head. 

She was arrested in March 2022 after police found 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 the son that Gallina was out of town. 

Prosecutors also said she took steps to cover up the murder, including hiring someone to dig a hole on the property, and asking someone else if they had "any tricks" to cover the smell of a "skunk" in her garage.

Authorities believe she kept Gallina's body in their home for 13 days. She later told police she had shot the 64-year-old in self-defense. 

During victim impact statements at sentencing, Gallina's children described him as "a hard-working man (...) loved by all," and said Tolomello was “motivated by greed.”

“All his hard work was for his family, his grandchildren, and the future,” his children wrote in a letter. "That legacy was destroyed by someone who only thought of themself."

She was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in state prison for third-degree murder. 

“Credit to the Bucks County Detectives, the Hilltown Township Police, and those who recognized that something seemed wrong and took the steps to ensure that justice was done,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees. 

“We hope the loved ones of Giovanni Gallina can now move beyond the criminal case and mourn him privately.”

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