Murder of Marilyn Reza by her husband, Dr. Robert Reza, featured on Betrayed

The murder of 47-year-old Marilyn Reza, who was killed by her husband, Dr. Robert Reza, is featured on the latest episode of Betrayed on Investigation Discovery.

When Marilyn failed to report to her nursing job at her husband’s office on December 12, 1990, police officers conducted a welfare check at her home in Bayport on eastern Long Island, New York, and found Marilyn dead.

Marilyn had been shot once in the head with a .22 high-caliber rifle, strangled, and her front door was left open and there was no sign of a struggle. Hours after Marilyn’s body was found, Robert arrived at the scene. He told investigators that he was away at a medical conference in Washington when he got the news about his wife of 22 years.

Robert worked as a pulmonary specialist and professor of medicine at the State University at Stony Brook. He and Marilyn had two children together.

An investigation revealed that although Robert attended a conference in Washington, he left early and returned to his home. There he shot his wife while she was sleeping and strangled her with a necktie to make sure she was dead. He then flew back to Washington to establish an alibi.

Robert confessed to murdering his wife, claiming that he was under a lot of pressure from his success. However, police officials learned that Marilyn and Robert were having marital issues.

Kathy Senese, the organist at the Sayville church where Robert and his wife attended, came forward to police about her six-month affair with Robert. She said after Robert told her that he wanted to marry her, she filed for a divorce from her husband.

Senese believed that Robert killed his wife because of their affair. Just before Marilyn’s murder, she said he told her that “if anything should happen to Marilyn, don’t feel guilty. I may look distraught, but I won’t be.”

Robert was arrested and booked into the Suffolk County jail. He was charged with second-degree murder and held on a $5 million bond.

He pleaded temporary insanity due to mental illness, but the jury rejected his defense and found him guilty of murdering his wife. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

In 2012, Robert died of natural causes at the age of 68 while at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in upstate Beacon.

Betrayed — Prescription For Murder, airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.