Last it was reported that actress, director, and Hal Hartley muse Adrienne Shelly had committed suicide in her Greenwich Village apartment. The news was baffling: Shelly’s indie film career was steaming along. She had a 3-year-old daughter. Her husband said he’d seen no hint of depression and contended that the woman he knew would never have killed herself.
Apparently, she didn’t. A 19-year-old construction worker was arrested and charged yesterday with Shelly’s murder, after what police say was an altercation over noise — or what New Yorkers call “a normal morning.” Shelly complained about the construction next door, and, according to police, the worker snapped and struck her in the face — then made it look like she’d hanged herself. (Though inquiries continue, several investigators told the New York Times that the worker has admitted to the crime.)
Who is the suspect? You’ve heard it before: A kid, quiet, considerate, sent money home to his parents in Ecuador. It would appear he just suddenly, inexplicably exploded, his humanity vanishing in a flash of rage. No sex, no drama, and no titillating third-act Law & Order twist — apparently, just two strangers colliding, with fatal and meaningless results. It’s the sort of horror we have the most trouble processing: the random and banal.
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Thank god he confessed!
Wow, what a wierd story.
I’m glad too he that he did confess because we would have had another Marilyn Monroe mystery.
Am I a terrible person because this is the first time that I have heard about this story… and about this actress?
How awful that this woman was murdered. When I saw the first reports of her death, how her husband and family insisted she wouldn’t kill herself, I just knew that she hadn’t. I’m glad they found the person who is responsible. However, it is quite likely inaccurate to imply that the suspect was a normal kid who never did anything violent until he suddenly snapped. That doesn’t happen. The people saying he was quiet and considerate simply don’t know him very well. The kid probably has a history of violent and/or controlling behaviour that will be uncovered later in the investigation.
I know they always say they thought the guy was quiet, considerate, etc. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that he has a history of violence. It’s also likely that he’d been dealing with a lot of problems and she was, unfortunately, around when he finally snapped.
Many years ago when I was a film critic (the 1980s), I got the chance to interview Adrienne Shelley. She was sweet and kind and I’m quite saddened by this news. A good friend of mine also dated her for a time around the same era. Haven’t heard from him yet, but I’m frankly gutted.
“A kid, quiet, considerate, sent money home to his parents in Ecuador.”
I am hispanic, so please don’t take this as racism, but does this person have a criminal record in Ecuador. A person with a violent streak such as the one described does not just commit one crime.
America, the land of the free… but sometimes is a cost to its good citizens.
If this guy hit her hard enough in the face to kill her, wouldn’t the police have noticed some sort of bruising on her face? To have originally classified this as a suicide seems ridiculous and demeaning to the poor woman who lost her life to violence.
I think “meaningless” is a poor choice of words. “Senseless,” yes, but not meaningless.
What a tragic story. My condolences to Ms. Shelly’s husband and daughter.
Marykate,
If you haven’t heard of Adrienne Shelly, do yourself a favor and run out and rent her first film THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH. One of my all time favorite performances. Or TRUST (which isn’t on DVD).
She was a great actress. This is just an extremely sad story.
I agree with Alyson. Meaningless is definitely the wrong choice of words. I’m sure to her husband and child, Adrienne’s death is not meaningless.
I have seen Adrienne Shelly in movies before and thought she was a good actress. It’s a shame that her life was cut short.
I live in NY. It is a horrible place filled with horrible nasty self-serving monsters. People drive like they WANT to kill you. Neighbors regard eachother with disdain and hatred and fear. I hope to transfer out of here very soon. The only thing that is surprising about this poor young mother’s horrific death is how unsurprising it is in NY.
Hey, that’s not fair, at all. This city to me is the most cordial. When you do nice things for people, like out of manners and graciousness, they are so happy. I am talking about holding the door open for people, or helping mothers carry their carriages up subway stairs, and the like. I particularly will recall an incident last week when a woman had a seizure on the uptown 1 train, and a small group of us helped her out. Now, yes, there was a lot of callous behavior around. But there is good, and if you don’t find it, you’re looking wrong.
Tragic.
But also, nice job Scott Brown.
From what I read in the paper this morning, he was an illegal immigrant, speaks little English, working construction. There was a dispute over the noise from the construction below her office. A sneaker print in the tub was the clue that cracked the case. At least they got the guy.
I live in Jersey City and work in NY. People are not killed here every day because they complain about noise, if they were there wouldn’t be enough room in the morgue for them! This was a particularly strange and tragic case. My deepest condolences to Ms. Shelly’s family on this terrible loss.
Alice, I understand that you hate this city, and that’s your perogative, but please stop spreading anti-NY propaganda that you really know nothing at all about.
Yo Alice, I’m one of those monsters from NYC that you mentioned. Hope to see you soon.
This is so sad and horrible, but its absolutely not representative of NYC as a whole. I live in the village (the neighborhood where she lived), and things like this just don’t happen here usually. You always have to be careful, obviously, but even something like this should not warrent any anti-new york feelings. Alice hated New York before this happened. This tragedy is just giving her a chance to mouth-off.
Alice: time for you to get out of town. I moved out of New York 10 months ago, after 35 years living in the city; I am having a horrendous time being away from my beloved New York; the city that never sleeps; the city that gave me my present and my future, where I met and married my husband; the city where I was treated better in 35 year than I have been treated here in my new location. What happened to Adrienne was tragic and sad; and Alice, let me break it to you gently, if you think these things happen only in the greatest city in the world, then you are more ignorant than you think.
I was born, raised and work in NYC. There are days I love it and days I absolutely hate it. And while this story is utterly tragic, I have to respecfully disagree with Alice and her generalizations. New York can be a tough town to live in at times, but the city and it’s people are amongst the best in the world, if not THE best.
But this story shouldn’t be about NYC – it’s about the tragic loss of a young wife and mother and my condolences go out to her family and friends.
First, RIP to Ms. Shelly and my best to her family in this difficult time. This is a terrible loss for them, and I feel the worst for her child, who’ll have to grow up without his mom.
As for the kid who did it, he confessed. And I wouldn’t discout him because of his age. As for the guy being from El Salvador, I don’t see that as making him more or less likely to overreact or to succumb to passion during a heated argument. People lose their temper during heated arguments all the time and it’s never a good thing. While most won’t go further than yelling louder, some folks to turn to violence. And as this crime demonstrates, it doesn’t take much to really hurt or kill another person.
I feel bad for Ms. Shelly’s family, and for the family of the young man who confessed to the crime. But the young man himself is a disturbed person who needs serious help, and who needs to face justice for his actions. In accepting that the perpetrator is a human being we can be compassionate, but we must also remember that he is not the victim of this crime.
So many people are out of control. This is happening in many places, not just New York City. It is most unfortunate that some people do not know how to deal with their explosive anger. Just because someone complains of noise is not justifiable murder. He must have had a short fuse to begin with.
As far as the murder rate in New York, it is high. I onced lived in a neighborhood where killings were the specialty of the day. I no longer live in the big Metropolis, but still go back to see my family. I am deeply sorry something so heinous has happened to her.
Alice, you ignorant twat. We hope you transfer out soon too.
Not to digress, but I live in DC, which for years had an awful reputation, and can thus empathize with New Yorkers. It’s still trendy to hate on this city, usually by folks who’ve never lived in a city before. Yes, it’s tough and yes, there is crime and homeless folks everywhere, and some areas are scary at night, but contrast that with all the great restaurants, bars, cafes and shops that line those streets. Contrast a life of driving everywhere with one wherein the individual can live their entire lives on foot. Suddenly cities aren’t so bad.
NYC (mostly in Manhattan, but also in the Bronx) has always been good to me. With so much to do, so many great little shops, restaurants and history, NYC is a great city. And post 9/11, my experience with New Yorkers themselves is always positive. Yes, many of them are in a hurry, but whenever I got a chance to talk to a New Yorker in a bar or cafe, there was this fantastic self depreciative sense of humor, an unmistakable accent, and a good heart usually rolled into every person. I Heart NY
Like many others, I’ve been devastated by the news since it first broke, but leaving that aside for the moment…
And without considering other motives and/or the killer’s background…
You have to wonder if he weren’t afraid of being picked up by the cops for being illegally employed whether he wouldn’t have gone over the edge and that day would have been just another day.
But please don’t think that’s any kind of rationalization, just an observation. He still did what he did and Adrienne’s life stopped in a blink and her family, friends and fans will have to deal with that forever.
There is always need for caution no matter where one lives. I have already posted before on this truly insane tragedy. Some have recognised that the man needs help, but should I feel sorry for him? No!!! He at least has a life, Shelly does not.
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Adrienne was talented and superb, too bad she was murdered by some illegal alien that had no business in our country. Ihope they hang HIM.
Whoa. I was reading about Andy Griffith’s new role in in film adapted from Adrienne’s story, but hadn’t heard of this murder, or her, till now. Granted I don’t live in NY- but I was born and raised there. NY is like every other American City- with the slight exception of having MORE of everything. More musuems, more sidewalks, more personalities. It’s a tragic loss, and is almost any murder. And it’s tragic that murder has become so mundane, unless the victim is a high-profile person, and even then, with our insatiable need of the Next Thing, our collective memories forget, and move on.