UNSOLVED Queens, NY 1973 stabbing murder of Madelyn DeFilippi

[morf13]

1973 cold case of school teacher, and Doctor's wife, Madelyn DeFilippi, age 27 who was savagely stabbed to death in her Queens, NY home while her 4 month old son slept in his crib. She was stabbed and slashed with broken bottles, her hands bound with a bra. Unsolved & Cold

Madelyn's son, Joe joined me to discuss his mother's puzzling case and how her murder altered his path in life in episode 29 of my true crime podcast, The Murder In My Family http://themurderinmyfamily.com/episode-29-madelyn-defilippi/

 

[dotr]

Particularly brutal murder, imo.
Police Press Hunt for Killer of Forest Hills Woman
"Tentatively, the time of the killing was set at between 11 A.M. and 2:30 P.M. Tuesday. There was blood in the bedroom and blood in the kitchen, where the body, clad in a housecoat, the arms bound together with a brassiere, was found stabbed 42 times in the neck and chest.Dr. John Fuery of the Medical Examiner's office said the victim had apparently not been raped. Detective Thomas Shay said the house had not been ransacked."

300 at Rites for Doctor's Slain Wife
"Meanwhile, the police con tinued their search for the killer, checking out clues without announced progress.

“We are really up against a wall,” said Lieut. Joseph Carroll. “Any help the public can give would be appreciated, especially if anyone saw a taxi driver that day pick up a passenger who was a stranger to the neighborhood.”

 

[yabbyyou]

26‐Year‐Old Wife of Physician Is Slain in Forest Hills Gardens

 

[cat1116]

Mrs. DeFilippi was my brother and my 2nd grade teacher. My brother was 8 and I was 10 years old when she was murdered. I remember that I had really liked her and, I also remember sitting on my bedroom floor sobbing when my mom told me that she died.

Every now and then I check the internet to see if there was ever any resolution to the case. Not too long ago I came across the "The Murder in My Family" podcast. After I listened to it, I went to tell my mom about it the next day because, I knew that my mom had been friendly with her. My mom asked me if they every solved the case and, then said that she bets it was the postman. She told me that Mrs. DeFilippi had told told her when she was alive, that the postman had walked into her home one day and, that it had scared her. My mom said that she remembered thinking at the time - why would the postman walk into your home?

I actually called the 112pct (NYPD) and spoke to a detective and told him about what my mom said. He didn't seem very positive about any movement ever happening in the case since it was so long ago. IDK...it was about a month or so ago and I never heard anything back from the police. Maybe they looked into it and was nothing.

It's so sad. It's going to be 50 years in the beginning of next year. No one should ever be able to get away with something like this.

 

[dotr]

Episode 29 Madelyn DeFilippi

In episode 29 of The Murder in My Family, we explore the case of 27 year-old Madelyn DeFilippii, a school teacher, and the wife of a doctor, who was brutally stabbed to death in her Queens, NY home…

themurderinmyfamily.com

Madelyn DeFilippi

In episode 29 of The Murder in My Family, we explore the case of 27 year-old Madelyn DeFilippii, a s

www.spreaker.com

 

[Rlnjkm]

@cat1116 We "spoke" on Twitter last night, I spent hours reading up on everything I could find.

@morf13 the M/O in this case is quite similar to several killings by Richard Cottingham. RC was quite active in Queens/Nassau County in the early 70's. It is referenced above that there was no indication of rape- wondering if that might've been something held back by LE so as not to create a panic..in the podcast (which was an excellent episode BTW- really respectful and victim/survivor focused), Madelyn's son believes that there is still a kit, I'd assume that is a rape kit?

Cottingham had on several occasions, bound a victim with their own undergarments, he was also a very violent person. I reached out to a friend, Peter Vronsky, a definitive expert on RC and he has partnered with many victim family members and has access to Cottingham, to inquire his thoughts.

 

[morf13]

@cat1116 We "spoke" on Twitter last night, I spent hours reading up on everything I could find.

@morf13 the M/O in this case is quite similar to several killings by Richard Cottingham. RC was quite active in Queens/Nassau County in the early 70's. It is referenced above that there was no indication of rape- wondering if that might've been something held back by LE so as not to create a panic..in the podcast (which was an excellent episode BTW- really respectful and victim/survivor focused), Madelyn's son believes that there is still a kit, I'd assume that is a rape kit?

Cottingham had on several occasions, bound a victim with their own undergarments, he was also a very violent person. I reached out to a friend, Peter Vronsky, a definitive expert on RC and he has partnered with many victim family members and has access to Cottingham, to inquire his thoughts.

Well also, in the 1970s, if there was not clear signs of abrasions, bruising, etc, they would many times conclude that a rape did not occur, but there does not always have to be clear injuries for a rape to have happened.
If there is indeed a 'kit' (rape kit or whatever)or anything not tested using today's technology, that needs to be done