Diego Pillco, the 19 year old construction worker whose fight with actress Adrienne Shelly over construction noise turned fatal, pleaded not guilty during his indictment yesterday. Pillco had confessed to striking Shelly unconscious and, thinking she was dead, staging her body to look like she hanged herself in a suicide because in order to cover it up. The prosecutors entered Pillco's confession, which had many details about the confrontation. According to the Post, Pillco had been in a "bad mood" that day and picked the fight. Shelly hit her head on a computer table after PIllco pushed her. And the Daily News reports that Pillco tied up Shelly the way he used "to tie pigs" in Ecuador and that he got the idea of staging the suicide out of a Spanish novella he read.
And there are more details about how the confrontation escalated, according to Pillco's confession. From the News:
According to court documents, Pillco originally told cops that Shelly, an independent film actress, wife and mother, had cursed at him about the noise. However, after several hours of questioning, Pillco said the actress was initially polite but that he got furious, throwing his hammer on the floor and yelling at her to leave.
"He pushed her out and slammed the door on her, hurting her with the door," the cops said, according to the court papers.
She reopened the door, slapped him and threatened to call police, Pillco told detectives. Pillco then chased after Shelly, pleading with her not to call the cops and following her into her office, where the struggle and hanging took place.
While we know it's possible, can any lawyers or legal buffs explain how Pillco can plead not guilty, even with a confession? Update: Aha, the NY Times says that Pillco didn't sign the documents, which the police call a confession.
And Shelly had recently completed a film, Waitress, which will now be shown at January's Sundance Film Festival.
