Man accused of killing University of Delaware student, leaving body on sidewalk in 2012 cold case

NEWARK, Del. (TCD) — Police made an arrest this week in connection with the 2012 cold case killing of a 20-year-old University of Delaware student.

According to the New Castle County Police Department, on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, at around 9:20 p.m., officers responded to the area of Studio Green Apartments on Thorn Lane in reference to a shooting. Authorities found Peter DiSabatino on the sidewalk with apparent gunshot wounds, and he was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Nearly 11 years after DiSabatino’s death, detectives with the Cold Case Homicide Squad identified 33-year-old Alando Dale as the primary suspect. According to the Delaware News Journal, another man had been charged with the killing, but his charges were dropped the day before his trial was set to begin.

Court documents reviewed by the paper allege Dale and the other man planned to purchase marijuana from DiSabatino outside his apartment on Thorn Lane. Dale reportedly went up to DiSabatino in his vehicle, and the other man waited outside. Dale allegedly gave DiSabatino fake money and tossed the drugs to the other person. The two men got into an argument after DiSabatino realized it was counterfeit money, and he got shot during the altercation.

A grand jury indicted Dale on Jan. 16, and the United State Marshals Task Force and the New Castle County Police Department Special Investigations Squad took him into custody on Jan. 29. In addition to the counterfeit money confrontation and shooting, the indictment suggests robbery was involved, the Delaware News Journal reports.

Dale was charged with first-degree murder, and he was booked into the Howard Young Correctional Institution with his bail set at $1 million.

At the time of his death, DiSabatino was reportedly attending the University of Delaware’s Associate in Arts program.

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