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It would\u2019ve been the \u201cperfect murder\u201d \u2014 but then two sisters\u2019 secret about their father\u2019s death unraveled when they became sexually involved with the same man, according to authorities.<\/p>\n
Mary-Beth Tomaselli, 63, and Linda Roberts, 61, were arrested Tuesday for the murder of their 85-year-old father, Anthony Tomaselli, who officials say they initially believed died from natural causes in 2015 at his home in Palm Harbor, Florida.<\/p>\n
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Tuesday at a news conference the man both sisters were intimate with notified the agency last month that one of the women confessed to the sinister scheme.<\/p>\n
The lover \u2014 whose identity wasn\u2019t released \u2014 met Mary-Beth Tomaselli at a bar in August and they engaged in a sexual relationship. She later introduced him to her younger sister, whom he also became romantically involved with, authorities said.<\/p>\n
It was Roberts, the younger sister, who eventually confided in him that she plotted with her sister to euthanize their father, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n
The man recorded the convo on his cellphone as Roberts spilled what unfolded on March 5, 2015.<\/p>\n
She claimed the sisters knew their father might die soon and he insisted he not be placed in an assisted living facility, according to the sheriff.<\/p>\n
Instead, they allegedly plotted to give their father a sleeping pill mixed with alcohol.<\/p>\n
But the scheme didn\u2019t go off without a hitch, officials said. The alcohol allegedly diluted the pills and didn\u2019t kill him.<\/p>\n
The women then attempted to suffocate their dad, but when that didn\u2019t work, they stuck a rag down his throat, according to the sheriff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the \u2018perfect\u2019 murder,\u201d Gualtieri said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Emergency responders were called to the home the following day and pronounced the man dead.<\/p>\n
The sisters told police they couldn\u2019t wake their father from his sleep. No autopsy was ordered because of their father\u2019s age and medical history, authorities said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey clearly knew what they were doing,\u201d Gualtieri said.<\/p>\n
Detectives interviewed the sisters who allegedly confessed to their father\u2019s murder four years ago. Both were charged with first-degree murder and booked into Pinellas County jail.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n