GUILTY PA - Matthew Whitehead, 11, found deceased in mom’s bedroom, her SUV found in NJ ocean, Horsham Twp, 11 Apr 2023 *arrest*

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realanastasia said:
Whoa. So was she in the SUV when police located it, and that is how she was apprehended? Or did she abandon the vehicle in the ocean and try to flee? Was the child killed in the bedroom where his body was found, or was he perhaps killed elsewhere and transported in the vehicle back home where he was placed in the primary bedroom? I just wonder if driving into the ocean was a failed suicide attempt or an effort to destroy evidence of some kind.
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My thoughts exactly. Iam wondering where she was found. I think she was trying to destroy evidence!
 
imstilla.grandma said:
“DiRienzo-Whitehead explained that she did not want Matthew to grow up with these struggles so she strangled him with her husband’s belt as he slept,” Long and Peter wrote in the arrest affidavit.
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sds71 said:
“Strangulation takes time. So this is a brutal murder of a little boy,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said at the news conference.
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Even if this poor child was asleep when she started strangling him, I think he would have woken up/realized what was happening prior to his death. IMO.

I am dumbfounded.
 
I wonder who was more upset about the impending loss of financial status...Matthew or his mom. I'm guessing it's the latter. Kids can be resilient and if you're a good parent you can use it as a life lesson, NOT as a reason to harm your child! @@@$!k&!!
 
Listened to the news report on Philadelphia's KYW newsradio (103.9), which featured the press conference with the district attorney.

Poor DA Steele was audibly distressed as he described the charges, and choked up several times as he explained that he himself is a father of a 12-year old, and could not fathom someone doing such a horrible thing to their child as to strangle them to death with their father's belt.

The alleged motive was that the mother wanted to spare the child from his worries about the family's finances--yet the child was enrolled (as others have noted) at an extremely expensive and well-respected private school, the mother drove a 2019 (so new-ish) vehicle, and ostensibly the family's home was large enough that the mother could leave it without being seen or heard by the father.

I'm wondering if the parents were about to split up, primarily because of two things:

1) The father was sleeping in another bedroom, which (per the father's comments in the arrest affidavit) was an ongoing arrangement in the home--although, of course, happily married couples might frequently sleep in separate bedrooms just so each person has a decent night's sleep. However, most spouses who sleep separately for reasons of having a better night's sleep do not invite their youngish children into their bedroom--that, to me, reeks of a parent trying to manipulate a child into "choosing" one parent over the other.

2) If there was marital discord and/or divorce on the horizon, it stands to reason that this might have provoked more frequent or intense discussions between the parents about money/finances/alimony/etc. that Matthew might have overheard.

Because this is just my conjecture, I don't know which parent is more likely to have initiated a split (if there was, in fact, to be a split). However, if the father had been the first to raise the issue of separation or divorce, it would support my guess that the mother killed the poor child in order to maximally hurt her spouse, rather than for any altruistic reason.
 
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I’m sorry. But I find it really odd that an 11 yo boy sleeps with his mother on a normal basis. Sounds like she was overly involved with the child. And probably used the child sleeping with her as an excuse to create distance with her spouse.
 
realanastasia said:
Listened to the news report on Philadelphia's KYW newsradio (103.9), which featured the press conference with the district attorney.

Poor DA Steele was audibly distressed as he described the charges, and choked up several times as he explained that he himself is a father of a 12-year old, and could not fathom someone doing such a horrible thing to their child as to strangle them to death with their father's belt.

The alleged motive was that the mother wanted to spare the child from his worries about the family's finances--yet the child was enrolled (as others have noted) at an extremely expensive and well-respected private school, the mother drove a 2019 (so new-ish) vehicle, and ostensibly the family's home was large enough that the mother could leave it without being seen or heard by the father.

It seems more likely to me that the parents were about to split up--the father was sleeping in another bedroom, which (per the father's comments in the arrest affidavit) was an ongoing arrangement in the home--and this would've caused there to be more talk about money/finances/alimony/etc. that the child could overhear. Because this is just my conjecture, I don't know which parent is more likely to have initiated a split (if there was, in fact, to be a split). However, if the father had been the first to raise the issue of separation or divorce, it would support my guess that the mother killed the poor child in order to maximally hurt her spouse, rather than for any altruistic reason.
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We must hear from the father and await judgment.
 
realanastasia said:
Listened to the news report on Philadelphia's KYW newsradio (103.9), which featured the press conference with the district attorney.

Poor DA Steele was audibly distressed as he described the charges, and choked up several times as he explained that he himself is a father of a 12-year old, and could not fathom someone doing such a horrible thing to their child as to strangle them to death with their father's belt.

The alleged motive was that the mother wanted to spare the child from his worries about the family's finances--yet the child was enrolled (as others have noted) at an extremely expensive and well-respected private school, the mother drove a 2019 (so new-ish) vehicle, and ostensibly the family's home was large enough that the mother could leave it without being seen or heard by the father.

It seems more likely to me that the parents were about to split up--the father was sleeping in another bedroom, which (per the father's comments in the arrest affidavit) was an ongoing arrangement in the home--and this would've caused there to be more talk about money/finances/alimony/etc. that the child could overhear. Because this is just my conjecture, I don't know which parent is more likely to have initiated a split (if there was, in fact, to be a split). However, if the father had been the first to raise the issue of separation or divorce, it would support my guess that the mother killed the poor child in order to maximally hurt her spouse, rather than for any altruistic reason.
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The financial situation is odd too. She’s a established realtor. These have been some pretty good couple of years in real estate. Sure there’s a million reasons they could be in debt, but before destitution, you sell house, ask for financial aid at school or move to a public school, etc. I don’t believe that was her motive. Not for one minute.
 
www.realtor.com

505 Privet Rd, Horsham, PA 19044 | realtor.com®

View 1 photos for 505 Privet Rd, Horsham, PA 19044, a 3 bed, 1 bath, 1,176 Sq. Ft. single family home built in 1957 that was last sold on 08/22/2001.
www.realtor.com www.realtor.com

Realtor.com says the house was 1176 sq feet and has 3 bedrooms. Of course that probably doesn't include the basement (no idea really, I'm on the Gulf Coast where we can't have basements).

I really hate this, Matthew's photos so such happiness and inquisitiveness. He would have lived a very full and productive life.

IF what the mom says is true and that Matthew had been crying about financial burdens, I imagine that she probably told him that they could no longer afford Private School and that he'd be going to public school next year and he was probably sad about that because what kid wants to leave all their friends and go to a new school.

All MOO of course.
 
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vls12345 said:
Looks like she is a realtor.

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Ruth DiRienzo Whitehead - Real Estate Agent in Horsham, PA - Reviews | Zillow

Visit Ruth DiRienzo Whitehead's profile on Zillow to find ratings and reviews. Find great Horsham, PA real estate professionals on Zillow like Ruth DiRienzo Whitehead of Keller Williams Real Estate
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Was a realtor. She isn't a realtor anymore.
 
jaeljoh said:
Matthew went to Germantown Academy. He was in sixth grade. Tuition for a sixth grader is $37,525. Ugh.
RIP Matthew. You deserved so much better.

Tuition and Fees - Germantown Academy
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So.... they can't afford tuition so it's better to kill the child? I know this is what she told investigators "During an interview with investigators, Dirienzo-Whitehead said her son was upset and had been crying throughout the day on Monday due to their family’s financial difficulties"... but I'm really wondering if that is the truth, or what her story was. The other (distasteful) thing that crossed my mind is perhaps it was done so she wouldn't have to shell out $37K+ a year for the child. Either way it's disgusting what she did. I'm just not sure I'm buying the reason she told investigators.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

Pennsylvania Mom Accused of Strangling Son With Belt, Fleeing State

A Montgomery County mother said she strangled her 11-year-old son with her husband’s belt because she didn’t want him to grow up dealing with their family’s financial difficulties, according to investigators.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com www.nbcphiladelphia.com
 
This is so beyond heartbreaking. I can’t fathom. This poor boy deserved so much more. Financial problems so what? That’s most people. So he’d rather die at his mothers hand? No way. Hope she lives a long life regretting every single second and is tortured for what she did. Sorry I’m mad
 
ifindedout said:
First and second degree murder. Why two degrees?
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In some states, it's done this way so that the jury can return a verdict of guilty, regardless of whether it was pre-meditated or intentional, or instead, was in an act of passion or whatever their law says about second degree.

That way, instead of having a hung jury and a mistrial, they get a conviction on something.

IMO.
 
Snoopster said:
I wonder who was more upset about the impending loss of financial status...Matthew or his mom. I'm guessing it's the latter. Kids can be resilient and if you're a good parent you can use it as a life lesson, NOT as a reason to harm your child! @@@$!k&!!
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She saw that child as her property and her payments of tuition were to "improve" him so that he would be fit to be presented to the world as her amazing child.

So, when he did anything that ordinary children do (whining or complaining or whatever), she went ballistic and no longer saw any value in him. She had wasted her time - just as (on her FB) she thinks it's damaging to her as a realtor if homeowners have visible signs of being animal lovers.

She's an "advertisor censored" jerk, full of rage and pomposity.

IMO
 
katydid23 said:
And the mom was inside the bedroom with the 11 yr old all night? Our kids slept with us often when they were very young, but way before 11 they were on their own.
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I could see valid reasons that aren’t nefarious for this. Who knows their situation maybe he was going through a hard time and needed mom. I don’t know but it’s not really the fact that dad slept in different room and 11year old son slept with mom that is worrisome for me. It’s that mom kills son while he slept with a belt!!!!!
 
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