Three sentenced in du Pont murder case

Kim Smith

Friday, March 17, 2000 | 12:34 p.m.

Saying that "true justice" would not have been achieved in the du Pont murder case without their help, a U.S. district judge Thursday gave a substantial break to two of the participants in the plot.

Judge Justin Quackenbush sentenced Christopher Moseley to 16 years and six months and Diana Hironaga to 15 years and eight months in prison for the 1998 death of Patricia Margello, 45.

Moseley, 59, and Margello, 41, could have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder, but each of them provided evidence in the case and testified against co-defendant Ricardo Murillo, 38.

Murillo, too, was sentenced Thursday. Quackenbush gave him two life terms and a $10,000 fine.

According to court testimony, Moseley hired Hironaga, Murillo and Joseph Balignasa to kill Margello because he did not approve of her relationship with his stepson and du Pont Chemical Corp. heir, Dean MacGuigan.

Margello's body was found Aug. 5, 1998, in an air-conditioning vent at the Del Mar Motel on Las Vegas Boulevard South. She had been strangled, tied up with coaxial cable and pantyhose, wrapped in a sheet with a pillow over her face and then sheathed in plastic bags.

Hironaga, who had rented the room in her own name, ultimately implicated the rest of the group.

Murillo was convicted by a jury in November, in large part because of the voluminous amount of receipts and handwritten notes provided to prosecutors by Hironaga and the testimony she and Moseley provided.

Balignasa entered a plea agreement and is awaiting sentencing.

A tearful Hironaga told Quackenbush Thursday that she is trying to change her life, not to impress him, but in the hopes that Margello's family will someday be able to forgive her.

According to court documents, Hironaga has completed a series of Bible studies courses during her time in jail.

"I am ashamed, embarrassed and horrified that I've committed the ultimate sin," Hironaga said. "I've broken my parents' hearts and I've ruined my life."

Quackenbush told Hironaga he believes her and said that if she ever wants to write Margello's son, Eric Horvath, 31, he is sure her attorney could arrange it with prosecutors.

Although Horvath did not attend the hearing, he submitted a letter to Quackenbush, parts of which were read into the record.

"I see the murderers' faces everywhere I go. This plagues my mind and gives me no rest," Horvath wrote. "They've taken the sunshine out of my life forever."

Like Hironaga, Moseley, too, expressed great remorse for his actions. According to court testimony, he was drinking about half a gallon of vodka a day around the time of the murder and has huge memory gaps.

"I've spent the last 18 months in a cell for 18 to 22 hours a day with little to think about but this. To this day, I don't know why I did what I did, but I do know Patricia Margello is dead and I'm responsible," Moseley said. "I am a broken man your honor. I'm sober, but I am broken."

Murillo took a totally different stand than Hironaga and Moseley.

"I'm innocent. I got convicted of a crime I did not participate in. I know what happened to Patricia Margello was sad, very sad and I pray for her soul every day, but I never met her," Murillo said. "I know that one day the Lord Jesus will reveal the truth."