Theresa Riggi

 

This next case was another in which I saw on Deadly Women. It is another unusual case for me to blog about because the crime actually took place in a country other than the United States. In general, and for the most part, I do not do a lot of these types of cases because different countries have different rules when it comes to evidence and justice in general. But, this case was a very tragic case for one, and for two, it involved American citizens. That being said, and again I do not want to take away from the tragedy of this event, I must admit that while watching the story on the television show I actually snickered a bit. The perpetrator here, Theresa Riggi, made several attempts to take her own life and each of them failed which resulted in her being brought to justice through the courts.

Theresa and her husband, Pasquale were married in 1989 in and lived a few years in California where Theresa was raised. Pasquale worked for the Shell Oil company and after a few years they moved to Colorado for his job. In 1997 the couple again moved due to Pasquale's job, but this time an ocean away as they settled in the United Kingdom. The couple attempted to have a child for several years but had failed and began the process of using IVF treatments. On December 17, 2001 Theresa gave birth to twin boys, Augustino (aka Austin) and Gianluca (aka Luke). Witnesses say that Theresa became immediately obsessed with her children. I am not talking the “normal” type of obsession that most mothers have, but to the point that all but completely cut her husband out of the picture. In fact, she insisted that he move into another bedroom so she could have the twins sleep with her.

At some point the boys were moved into a nursery and while my research did not specify the reasoning for this, I suspect this was only done probably at Pasquale's insistence. I imagine that he thought if the twins had their own room he and Theresa could work on their marriage, considering it had taken a “hit.” But, it seems that while the twins were placed in their own room together that Theresa then stopped sleeping in the marital bed and slept in the nursery. It was stated that at this point Theresa and Pasquale no longer had physical contact with each other.

It was said that in late 2003 the couple again tried IVF using previously frozen embryos. There was indication in my research that it had been presented to the courts that this was done at Theresa's insistence. This resulted in the birth of Cecilia on August 9, 2004. It was said that the couple made one more attempt at IVF after Cecilia's birth but it failed, and then the marriage deteriorated even more.

By October or November of 2006 Pasquale apparently had had enough and the couple separated and eventually divorce proceedings were started. By most account for the first few years Pasquale complied with whatever Theresa wanted when it came to the children and saw them, with her present and on her schedule. Then sometime in 2009 Theresa stopped letting him see the children at all. I question if part of her reasoning, right or wrong, was that it was possible Pasquale may have discussed being transferred back to the States and she feared he would take the children. What I can say is that by August 2010 Pasquale was back in the United States and living back in Colorado. I also want to state that I never read anything that indicated at that point that he in any way wanted to take his children with him and away from their mother. For all we know he may have had a conversation with her about a move and by all accounts it would seem reasonable if they all lived at least in the same country and seeing as she was an American citizen it would make sense. I cannot tell you what type of communicator Pasquale was, or if he thought he was having a rational discussion and Theresa read things into it. In fact, as I have said, I cannot even tell you that there had been a discussion before Theresa stopped letting him see his children. At that point Pasquale went to the courts and filed for unsupervised visits. It appears that he did get them.

It is unclear if Theresa had given the children cell phones and “electronic locators” before she had stopped Pasquale from seeing the children or after but both things were mentioned. It was said that they also wore the locators when they were in public places and the phones were pre-programmed to call her. She had also told the children to call her if their father “said anything they did not like.” I should point out too that the children were homeschooled, something that Pasquale disagreed with but Theresa called the shots. By all accounts her decision to home school the children had more to do with her needing to be in control and around her children 24/7 than it did about anything else.

On July 12, 2010 the kids were to have a visit with their father. I am unsure of the circumstances or where that visit was to take place but Theresa failed to have the children available. At that point Pasquale reported them missing when he could not reach them. It was said that Theresa was traced to a home in Edinburgh Scotland a few days later. It was there that authorities presented her with a warrant that Theresa was to turn over the children's passports as well as informed of a court date on August 3^rd. It seems that by now Pasquale was done playing games and was filing for custody of the children.

My research was a little sketchy next on some dates and times so I am going to try to piece this together for you the best that I can. Let me start with the court date on August 3^rd. Theresa did now show up to the hearing. The judge made an order for social workers to visit the home and decide if the children should be removed. Now, what is unclear is whether Pasquale had already received the phone call I am going to discuss or if he received it on the night of the 3^rd. Theresa and Pasquale talked on the phone and within the conversation she repeatedly asked him if he was planning to take her children away from her. His response was she was leaving him no choice. She told him if that was the case he should say goodbye to the children.

Again I am unsure if this phone call happened before or after the court date that Theresa failed to attend but regardless the judge was ordering an evaluation of the children be done by social workers. The problem is that the notice to social workers did not get to them for about twenty-four hours. By then it was too late.

At some point on August 4, 2010 Theresa Riggi proceeded to stab each of her three children eight times each with three different knives. The children suffered horribly at the hands of their mother and obviously fought for their lives as they had defensive wounds on their hands. After killing her children and laying them out in a bedroom side by side Theresa proceeded to stab herself. The goal was to commit suicide but after a few deep stabs near her neck and wrists she gave up. Then she proceeded to release gas into the flat she was living in to cause an explosion. By all accounts it did very little but make a loud noise that alerted others. Theresa then went out to the balcony of her home that was approximately a forty foot drop and after yelling and screaming for a few second she jumped from the balcony. Well, when the explosion had happened several people had come out of their homes and one the neighbors broke Theresa's fall from the balcony.

The manager of the flat (apartment in Western culture) had gone into the home to check on the loud noise they had heard and it was he who found the bodies of the three children. Some reports say that there was a space between them that initially Theresa planned to lay upon her suicide. Theresa was taken to the hospital for her injuries but she was ultimately arrested and charged with murder.

Several psychiatrists examined her while she was in custody and “described her as excessively controlling and suffering from a narcissistic and paranoid personality.” It was believed that she believed her children were better off dead, with her with them, than for them to be away from her. After all of the evaluations and time a deal was struck in which Theresa would agree to plead guilty to the charge of “culpable homicide on grounds of diminished responsibility.” On April 26, 2011 a judge sentenced her to serve sixteen years in prison and upon her release be deported back to the United States.

Theresa did not do well in prison. She was attacked by other inmates on several occasions. In one incident she was pushed down stairs. In another a fellow inmate took a razor blade and permanently disfigured her face. At some point for her own safety and her sanity she was moved to a medical facility within the prison system. On March 10, 2014 Theresa Riggi was found dead inside her cell. Exactly what her cause of death ended up being determined is unclear. Initial reports claimed she had committed suicide; the website findagrave.com claims her COD was natural causes and yet another newspaper report claimed she died of pneumonia.