The former fiancé of an Aliquippa woman shot and killed Sunday night told police he had nothing to do with the homicide and provided an alibi to investigators, according to his attorney.
The former fiancé of an Aliquippa woman shot and killed Sunday night told police he had nothing to do with the homicide and provided an alibi to investigators, according to his attorney.
Frank Catroppa, 36, of Robinson Township, was in an eight-year relationship with 33-year-old Rachael DelTondo, who was shot killed on Mother’s Day night outside of her mother's Buchanan Street home. Catroppa’s attorney, Stephen Colafella, said the couple was engaged for about six months before they called off their wedding and ended their relationship nearly two years ago.
However, Catroppa and DelTondo remained in contact and were “friendly” until about October 2017 when they completely stopped communicating, Colafella said.
Catroppa began to see a new girlfriend, according to Colafella.
Though they hadn't recently been in contact, Catroppa told his attorney he was shocked on Monday to learn of DelTondo’s death, and upset to see public comments that implicated his involvement.
“I know he was very bothered by a lot of the social media comments suggesting he was involved,” Colafella said.
Assuming police would be interested in talking with Catroppa as a result of the former relationship, Colafella informed investigators that he and his client would be willing to meet and discuss the situation. Police asked them for an interview Tuesday, he said.
In that interview, Catroppa provided an alibi.
According to Colafella, Catroppa was with his mother in Aliquippa for part of the day to celebrate the holiday and also visited with his girlfriend’s mother. He returned to his Robinson Township home in the evening and remained there until Monday morning.
Colafella said video surveillance in Catroppa’s complex corroborates his alibi.
When asked if it were possible Catroppa participated in a murder-for-hire arrangement in the death of DelTondo, Colafella said there is no motive that would suggest his client would want to harm his ex-girlfriend.
“He has moved on,” Colafella said. “There’s no residual jealousy or resentment.” He added their relationship ended completely months ago, and said Catroppa has dedicated his time to a new relationship.
“It was inconceivable to him that something like that could be done to a person like her,” Colafella said.
His client is still trying to process the incident, he said.
Catroppa described DelTondo as an outgoing and “very good person,” Colafella said. He is hoping for a resolution in the case to bring closure to her family.
While he was unable to go into much detail, Colafella said he began representing Catroppa in 2017 when DelTondo was implicated in a police incident report leaked to the media and her employer, Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.
The police report described officers finding DelTondo and a juvenile, identified as a former student, together sitting in a parked car in an empty lot late at night. The report was made in 2016 but wasn't leaked to the media by an anonymous email account until nearly two years later.
When asked by responding officers why she was meeting a student alone, late at night, DelTondo told police she didn’t want her fiancé, Catroppa, to find out.
DelTondo was never charged in the case.
While Lozier does not believe the leak of the police incident report is related to the homicide, he said it did prompt a state police investigation into the Aliquippa Police Department. The December 2017 investigation led to a temporary hold on the department’s access to some statewide databases of information, he said. The issue was resolved in February and the department’s access to data was restored, he said.