NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A 70-year-old woman who killed a man using a sword hidden in her cane while outside an Ardmore bar last summer has been found guilty of third degree murder.
Lawyers gave their closing arguments on Thursday and the jury announced a verdict six hours later.
DiPietro’s bail was revoked and she was taken into custody after the verdict was read. A family member sitting in the front row broke down in tears despite the judge’s instruction against any reactions.
Prosecutor Brianna Ringwood said Renee DiPietro set out for retribution when she grabbed a cane with a concealed 16-inch blade and a baseball bat before leaving her East Oak Lane home with her husband. Their son had called asking for a ride in the early morning hours of June 10, saying he’d been kicked out of an Ardmore bar for punching someone.
That punch, her son testified, came after he saw his girlfriend kissing another man.
About 45 minutes later, when her son opened the back door to get into the car on Cricket Avenue, he was grabbed from behind and punched repeatedly by 31-year-old Michael Sides, a friend of the man who was punched in the bar.
DiPietro got out of the car and swung the cane repeatedly at Sides. The sheath covering the blade came off and she stabbed Sides in the chest, piercing his heart and killing him.
Ringwood asked the jury to find DiPietro guilty of third-degree murder, calling her actions “unjustified violence,” as she inserted a deadly weapon into a fistfight between two adults.
But defense attorney Lou Busico told jurors they must consider the case from DiPietro’s point of view, and find her not guilty of murder or involuntary manslaughter. Busico argued DiPietro was in an unknown area, simply reacting when she saw a 254-pound man yank her 130-pound son out of the car and start beating him.
DiPietro concurred, disputing the verdict and vowing to appeal while being led away in handcuffs. “It was wrong,” she said. “If it was their child, what would they do?”