The husband of a du Pont family heiress admits role in slaying

Wednesday, Nov. 3, 1999 | 9:42 a.m.

A man married to a du Pont family heiress has pleaded guilty to charges he paid $15,000 for the murder of his stepson's girlfriend.

Christopher Moseley, 59, of Centerville, Del., and two other people were indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas in September 1998 in connection with the contract killing of Patricia Margello, 45.

Moseley's wife, Lisa Dean Moseley, is a direct descendant of the founder of DuPont Co. Her son, Dean MacGuigan, was Margello's boyfriend.

According to Moseley's plea agreement, he met with Diana Hironaga, Ricardo Murillo and Joseph Balignasa at a Las Vegas motel in July 1998 and told them "in substance that if all else fails, it may be necessary to kill MacGuigan's girlfriend."

At the end of the month, according to the document, Moseley arranged for Margello, 45, to return to Philadelphia, but she refused to leave Las Vegas.

"Moseley told Hironaga in substance to go ahead with the plan to kill Margello," the plea agreement said. "Moseley at some juncture told Hironaga that he would pay her and Murillo to commit the murder."

In late July 1998, Murillo spoke to Moseley in Delaware by phone from Las Vegas, according to the document.

"Moseley told Murillo in substance to kill Margello," the plea agreement said.

Moseley's previous attorney, Stephen Stein, has described Margello as a drug user and seller who caused MacGuigan to develop a narcotics addiction. The attorney said MacGuigan went through rehabilitation but returned to Margello and his drug habit.

Stein said Moseley's wife gave Margello money to keep her away from MacGuigan, but that failed to keep the couple apart. The attorney declined to discuss a motive for the killing.

Margello's body was found Aug. 5, 1998, in an air-conditioning duct of the Del Mar Resort Motel in Las Vegas.

Hironaga and Murillo were indicted with Moseley. Hironaga, 41, pleaded guilty in May to a conspiracy charge and admitted receiving $5,000 for her role in the killing.

The woman admitted luring Margello into a meeting on Aug. 1 with Murillo and, later, Balignasa. During the early morning of Aug. 2, according to Hironaga's plea agreement, she and Balignasa helped Murillo kill the victim.

Authorities have said Margello was strangled.

According to court documents, Hironaga and Murillo flew to Philadelphia on Aug. 4, and Hironaga received $15,000 from a limousine driver sent by Moseley. She then gave $10,000 to Murillo, according to the documents.

Murillo is scheduled to go to trial next week before Senior U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush of Spokane, Wash.

Balignasa, 26, went to trial earlier this year in state court, but a mistrial was declared after jurors consulted a dictionary and a telephone book to try to resolve issues in the case. A second trial has been scheduled for January.

Sentencing for Moseley, who is in custody, has been scheduled for February. He entered his plea on Tuesday.

Both Moseley and Hironaga have agreed to cooperate with authorities in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.