Giovanni Gallina (left) in an obituary photo, Anna Maria Tolomello (right) after pleading guilty (WCAU/screengrab)
The Pennsylvania pizzeria owner accused more than two years ago of shooting her business partner and boyfriend once in the head with a Smith & Wesson .38 Special “LadySmith” revolver, killing him, pleaded guilty to murder just before her trial was set to begin on Monday.
Anna Maria Tolomello, now 50, was recognized in Bucks County as the owner and operator of Pina’s Pizza in Chalfont along with 65-year-old Giovanni Gallina, sometimes described as her “paramour” and common-law husband.
According to the criminal complaint in her case, Tolomello did not dispute shooting Gallina after authorities came to arrest her, but she did claim she shot the man in self-defense. That story is now off the table, as Tolomello has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and for tampering with evidence, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Third-degree murder is a charge that only exists in only three states, and Pennsylvania is one of them. It covers “[a]ll other kinds of murder” that do not rise to the level of first- or second-degree murder.
In this case, Tolomello was of shooting Gallina in mid-March 2022, wrapping up his body in a tarp in her bedroom, and keeping the victim’s remains hidden for 13 days. At the same time, Gallina’s Italy-based son Phillip Gallina reached out to Tolomello after becoming worried that his father had uncharacteristically ceased messaging him on WhatsApp.
The DA’s office said the investigation began after Phillip Gallina revealed Tolomello’s explanations for his father’s whereabouts. She said that Giovanni was “away on business” but did not say where he was going or for how long, and that he left his cell phone at the pizzeria.
Anna Maria Tolomello (Bucks County DA)
Authorities said there was also evidence that Tolomello had asked someone on March 18, 2022, for “any tricks” or tips on how to deal with a “skunk in her garage.”
Phillip Gallina told investigators that March 16, 2022, was the last time he heard from his father. By March 29, 2022, investigators were watching their suspect closely and used a “cooperating subject” or “CS” to help catch her.
Tolomello not only paid CS $350 in cash to help dig a hole on her home’s property — a hole which just happened to be long, wide, and deep enough to be a shallow grave (7x3x3) for a 5’6″ adult male — but she was also surveilled and even audio recorded on March 29 telling CS “He [Gallina] is away,” the complaint said. A search warrant was executed the same day and Tolomello made her self-defense claim to shooting the victim “in his left temple while he was strangling her in the bed inside their master bedroom.”
“Police told her to stop talking,” the complaint said, before authorities found Gallina’s body wrapped in a “bundle.”
As Law&Crime reported at the time of the defendant’s arrest, Pina’s Pizza patrons previously posted glowingly about Tolomello’s dealings with customers and for the pizzeria’s “excellent” food.
Local NBC affiliate WCAU’s cameras were rolling on Monday after Tolomello’s sudden guilty plea. Already wearing prison garb and handcuffed, Tolomello said nothing as she was escorted out of the courthouse into the back of a Bucks County Sheriff’s Office squad car.
Sentencing has been set for June 25. Tolomello will reportedly face 18 to 40 years in prison.
Giovanni Gallina, affectionately remembered as “The Boss,” was survived by three children and two grandchildren.
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