Woman tells brother she killed her son months ago, WA sheriff says. He called the cops
A man called the cops on his sister after she told him she killed her son months prior, Washington authorities said.
Christine D. Catelli, 58, told her brother she killed her 35-year-old son in June, according to a Facebook post from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The brother called deputies shortly before 9 p.m. Jan. 14 to report his sister’s confession, they said.
The brother told the sheriff’s office that his nephew “had not been seen since then and that he believes his sister is telling the truth,” the sheriff’s Jan. 17 post said.
The man then drove his sister “from his home on the west side of the state back to Spokane County to report the crime,” deputies said. He wanted to help deputies recover his nephew’s body that was dumped in Whitman County, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies met the brother and Catelli in a parking lot, the sheriff’s office said.
He told deputies that Catelli “had been under a lot of stress and struggled with a substance abuse addiction,” the sheriff’s office said. However, he thought she was improving.
When questioned by detectives, Catelli told authorities she shot her son “several times” last June, the sheriff’s office said.
“She told detectives after shooting her son, she wrapped his body in black plastic and dumped his remains at the location while discarding other pieces of evidence along the way,” the sheriff’s office said.
Catelli led investigators to where she dumped her son’s body in Whitman County, where a detective found “a large, black plastic bag containing human remains,” the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said it searched the area for evidence the following day.
Catelli was arrested and is facing a murder charge, the sheriff’s office said.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the son’s identity and cause of death at a later time, the sheriff’s office said.
“This remains an active investigation,” the sheriff’s office said.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 10:24 AM with the headline "Woman tells brother she killed her son months ago, WA sheriff says. He called the cops."
