Family dispute boils over
The recent murder of a Plumville woman has added a new wrinkle to a bizarre and bitter 13-year divorce battle in Indiana County.
Douglas Dalessio of Plumville, whose wife, Theresa, was murdered Oct. 6 by an intruder, said his estranged mother wants to garnish money from his late wife's life insurance policy as partial payment on an old divorce judgment.
Last month Dalessio said he was making preparations to have $150,000 from his late wife's life insurance policy placed in a trust fund for the couple's two children, Devin, 4, and Dylan, 21 months.
But Dalessio said his mother, Rosalie Dalessio of Ford City, Armstrong County, blocked the plan by filing court papers in Pittsburgh. She is seeking to garnish the insurance money as payment on an outstanding $807,840 divorce judgment pending against Dalessio and her former husband, Samuel.
"I can't understand how a woman could be so mean-spirited. We're talking about two little children whose mother was murdered here," Dalessio said.
Dalessio's wife, Theresa, 32, was brutally killed by a 12-gauge shotgun blast to the chest. Police say she was shot by an intruder who entered the couple's home in Plumville about 1:45 a.m. Oct. 6.
After an intensive four-week investigation into the slaying, state police in Indiana charged Randy C. Whitacre, 46, of Home with the murder.
Whitacre is being held in the Indiana County Jail without bond on charges of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and burglary.
Police said Whitacre admitted he was angry at the Dalessios after septic problems developed at a home he purchased from the couple a few years ago. Whitacre filed a civil suit against the Dalessios, but it has been delayed repeatedly in court.
The Dalessios' son, Dylan, who was 18 months old when his mother was killed, also was injured in the shooting. The child is still recuperating from shotgun wounds to his left arm and chest.
"Dylan has lost some use of his left hand. But he continues to get better," the boy's father said.
Dalessio, 33, rolled under the bed when he heard the shotgun blast that killed his wife. The couple's other son, Devin, remained asleep in his own bedroom and was not injured.
Dalessio said the latest barb in his parents' ongoing divorce battle occurred earlier this month, when he was served with the garnishment paperwork. He said the dispute is hurting two innocent parties - his sons.
"This really ticks me off because these kids deserve this money. No one else," he said.
Dalessio has been entangled in his parents' lengthy divorce since it was filed in 1988. He finds himself in the unusual predicament of owing his mother alimony.
Indiana County judges have ruled repeatedly over the last decade that Samuel Dalessio used his son to hide family assets. The younger Dalessio said his father, whose nickname is "Cow," gave him the family dairy farm before the 1988 divorce.
In addition, he claims that the family's coal trucking company, T.A. Dalessio, was operated by his late wife - although courts have ruled otherwise.
In January, the younger Dalessio spent two days in the Indiana County Jail for failure to make payments on the years-old divorce judgment.
"The court ruled that she (Rosalie Dalessio) is owed $807,840 and they don't care who pays it ... my father or me. I don't have the money. ... I'm living on Social Security," Dalessio said.
The divorce case is currently on appeal in state Superior Court.
Calls seeking comment from Rosalie Dalessio's attorney, Joseph M. Wymard in Pittsburgh, were not returned. Rosalie Dalessio has an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached.
The Dalessio divorce documents on file in the Indiana County Courthouse could fill a large box.
They disclose that the divorce feud has been marked by numerous untruths - and it continues to anger and baffle court officials.
For example, in an August 2000 ruling on the amount still owed to Rosalie Dalessio, Judge William Martin said Douglas, Theresa and Samuel Dalessio were crying poverty while operating various businesses that generated millions of dollars in bank deposits in recent years.
"Douglas Dalessio admits to lying on the stand and misrepresenting assets to banks and truck dealers. In fact, Douglas Dalessio, when confronted with his lies, somehow found it humorous," Martin wrote.
The judge said bank records showed that a farm account managed by Douglas and Theresa Dalessio had deposits totaling $1.14 million between 1997 and March 2000, and a separate personal account the couple share showed deposits totaling $380,040.
Martin ruled that Theresa Dalessio claimed to operate the trucking business, which is in her name, "but did not recall significant details behind how vehicles were purchased or leased or how real estate was transferred."
"She (Theresa) admits that she was aware of her husband's lies and attempts to justify her actions as being necessary to support her two children. Somehow, the fact that the majority of the parents in Indiana County and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania provide for their children by doing an honest day's work for an honest day's pay has avoided her notice," Martin wrote.
However, Martin saved his most stinging criticism for Samuel Dalessio, 64.
"Samuel Dalessio is without a doubt the most pathetic of the three. Mr. Samuel Dalessio has been the subject of countless contempt proceedings for failure to pay alimony," the judge wrote.
"On numerous occasions (Samuel Dalessio) appeared before this court and sobbed, claiming that he had no income, could not sell livestock due to his lost license and could not pay an alimony ... payment of $500 a month," Martin wrote.
However, Rosalie Dalessio's attorneys were able to document that her ex-husband generated about $1.6 million in livestock sales, according to a bank account managed by Samuel Dalessio.
"(G)iven the total lack of credibility of Samuel Dalessio, Douglas Dalessio and Theresa Dalessio, the court is not persuaded by their claims. This court has not been faced with a more dishonest and designing trio before," Martin wrote in upholding the judgment lodged against Samuel and Douglas Dalessio.
In papers filed last year, Rosalie Dalessio's attorney described to Martin the frustration in collecting money from the divorce judgment against her former husband and son.
"The wife has been forced to wage world war in an attempt to protect her rights and an effort to realize her distribution share of a 22-year marriage which ended 12 years ago," attorney Wymard wrote.
Meanwhile, the younger Dalessio continues to fume over his mother's move to take his late wife's life insurance.
"I sold my wife's (trucking) business this week. I'm living in my father's house. I just want my kids to have the right to what is theirs," he said.
"I think she hates me worse than (she hates) my dad."
