Final defendant in du Pont case pleads guilty

Bill Gang

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 11:55 a.m.

The last defendant in the bizarre and bungled murder-for-hire slaying of a woman with ties to the wealthy du Pont family pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder.

Joseph Balignasa, who was the only state court defendant and a relatively minor player in the case that involved three others, will have to serve 10 years behind bars before he will be eligible for parole.

He admitted in court that he supplied the belt used to strangle Patricia Margello to death in a seedy downtown motel that shows adult videos and rents rooms in three-hour blocks.

Balignasa stood trial earlier this year on charges of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon, but misconduct by jurors during deliberations resulted in a mistrial. Had he been convicted, he would have faced a minimum sentence of life with no parole for 40 years.

Formal sentencing as a result of today's plea bargain is set for Jan. 31.

The case involved the strangulation death of 45-year-old Patricia Margello, the drug-using girlfriend of a junior heir to the du Pont chemical fortune. Balignasa was in state court defendant because he was not connected to the alleged interstate conspiracy to kill Margello.

The three other defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted on federal charges.

Police became involved when Margello's body was found in an air conditioning vent at the Del Mar Motel on Las Vegas Boulevard. She had been tied up with coaxial cable and panty hose, wrapped in a sheet with a pillow over her face and then sheathed in plastic bags.

The body stayed undetected for three days, until Aug. 5, 1998, but once it was found the plot quickly unraveled.

Margello, 45, was the girlfriend of Dean MacGuigan, who was in Las Vegas from his Delaware home to establish residency and get a divorce. MacGuigan is the son of Lisa Dean Moseley, a direct descendent of the founder of the DuPont Co.

Her current husband, Christopher Moseley, was a career military man and a former gardener at the du Pont family estate in Delaware. He admitted his role as the one who hired the others for the murder.

Police investigating the slaying made their first connection to Diana Hironaga, 40, who had rented the room in her own name.

Margello had telephoned MacGuigan from the room saying she was with Hironaga and two men and not feeling very safe, according to court records. MacGuigan told police that was the last time he spoke to his girlfriend.

Under questioning by police, Hironaga admitted her role and began to point the finger of guilt at the others she said were deeply involved.

One of those was Christopher Moseley, MacGuigan's step-father, who Hironaga said had been the financier and mastermind behind the scheme that was dubbed "Operation Dean."

That plan was to get MacGuigan divorced and have Margello killed.

The price for the Aug. 2, 1998 murder was $25,000.

Hironaga recruited Ricardo "Rico" Murillo, 37, who brought along Balignasa.

Margello was attacked and murdered as she came out of the bathroom.

Two days later, Hironaga and Murillo were flown first class to Philadelphia to meet with Christopher Moseley and be paid for the slaying, Hironaga told police.