The Perfect Murder spotlights the ‘suicide’ of Adrienne Shelly that was really murder

This week The Perfect Murder examines the apparent suicide of actress and director Adrienne Shelly that turned out to be murder.

Shelly had various acting roles in independent movies like The Unbelievable Truth and Trust, before going on to win various post-humous awards for the film Waitress in 2007.

She was married to Andy Ostroy and had a daughter with him, who was two at the time of her death.

On November 1, 2006, Shelly was found hanging in the West Village apartment she used as an office. She was hanging over the bath with a bed sheet tied around her neck and the shower rod.

The police believed that she’d committed suicide but her husband was insistant that she was a happy person and in particular that she’d never leave their two-year-old behind with no mother.

Further examination of the crime scene uncovered a sneaker print that matched that of some found elsewhere in the building, where some construction work was being done.

19-year-old construction worker Diego Pillco was arrested and eventually admitted that he’d followed her home and then attacked her. Whilst she was unconscious robbed her and then hung her up from the shower rod, killing her.

However, in a final twist the prosecution did not pursue a murder charage for fear he’d revert to a previous version where he said killing her was an accident . Instead they had him plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter and he was sentenced to 25 years without the possibility of parole.

At the sentencing her husband said he hoped that Pillco would “rot in jail”.

The Perfect Murder airs on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM on Investigation Discovery.