Woman charged in Oakland Twp. boyfriend’s murder

Police say an Oakland Township woman shot her boyfriend in the back of the head in the bedroom of the Turnpike Street residence they shared.

Lucy Pizarro, 52, was charged with one count of criminal homicide by Pennsylvania State Police Tpr. Roger Riddell. She is being held without bail in the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing was scheduled to be held Monday, Aug. 10 in New Milford District Court.

Police responding to the scene discovered the victim, Terrance Whitmire, lying in the bed in a second-floor bedroom, with blood emanating from an apparent gunshot wound to the back of the head. They also observed a silver pistol lying on the foot of the bed and an AR rifle lying along the side of the bed.

Prior to entering the residence, police were met by Pizarro on the front porch of the home and holding a silver pistol, and she put it down when police ordered her to do so.

In initial statements to police, Pizarro related that she and Whitmire had been lying in bed and watching television. She told police she left to take the dog outside as Whitmire was falling asleep. After she came back inside, she told investigators she was in the first floor bathroom when she heard a “poof,” went upstairs and saw blood on the pillow around the Whitmire.

According to the affidavit, Pizarro told police she grabbed Whitmire’s gun that was sitting on the nightstand and his cell phone and called 911 saying she felt that whoever shot Whitmire might still be in the house. She also told police that she believed her neighbors had bugged the home and were harassing them.

In a subsequent interview, she told police that she believed someone snuck int the residence and shot Whitmire.

An autopsy, was performed by Dr. Gary Ross at Northeast Forensic Associates, on Thursday, July 30. Whitmire’s cause of death was ruled as being a single gunshot wound to the back of the head; with the manner of death likely a homicide, but noted that suicide could not be ruled out, according to the affidavit.

A search warrant was executed on the property on Thursday morning. Items recovered included a Kimber .45 containing one live round in the chamber and six live rounds in the magazine from the foot of the bed and fibers from the muzzle of that firearm. Other items recovered in the search included an AR rifle and a Kimber.45, which was in the defendant’s possession when police first arrived at the scene. Also seized were journals, a large gray and white pillow, purple bed sheet and a blue comforter.

A preliminary gunshot residue test was performed on Pizarro’s clothing which produced a preliminary positive result, according to the affidavit.

Pizarro was interviewed again by police Thursday evening and she continued to deny shooting Whitmire.

But in further questioning from police, Pizarro told them that Whitmire had become possessive during their three-plus year relationship.

She told investigators that on the night of the shooting, she believed Whitmire was expecting to have sexual intercourse with her and that she did not want to and the two argued.

Pizarro told police that she then got out of the bed to retrieve the handgun on her nightstand and that she planned to sleep on the first floor of the home and wanted the pistol for protection, according to the affidavit.

In her statement to police, Pizarro said Whitmire was facing away from her as she walked around to his side of the bed with the gun in her hand as she attempted to leave the room and claimed Whitmire then grabbed her arm that was holding the gun but she was able to break free.

According to the affidavit, Pizarro then reported she stepped back and pulled the trigger and shot him once in the back of the head.

She then went downstairs and called 911.

Tpr. Roger Riddell spoke with Susquehanna County Coroner Tony Conarton who advised the investigator that based on the evidence at the scene, as well as the interviews, autopsy results and confession by Pizarro, he was ruling the manner of death as homicide.

 

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