By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com
UPDATED: The unbelievable truth: Adrienne Shelly murdered
“Prosecutors have charged a man with murdering actress Adrienne Shelly, who was found hanging from a shower rod in her West Village office last Wednesday,” reports NYC’s WCBS-TV. “Police have charged 19-year-old Diego Pillco, of the 300-block of Prospect Avenue in Brooklyn, with second degree murder. Pillco allegedly punched the 5-foot-2 actress after she complained about the noise he was making in the West Village apartment building where her office is located, killing her. He then allegedly admitted to dragging the body up to her office, and positioning her in the shower to make her death look like a suicide. EARLIER: Aw, just fuck. The New York Post reports on writer-director-actress-Hal Hartley muse-90s indie icon Adrienne Shelly’s apparent suicide at 40. Shelly radiated a twerpy intelligence onscreen in her too-few roles; she embodied my long-held belief that smart, petite women are a special kind of goddess. The Post reports with unsavory tabloid gusto: “The body of a beautiful, talented actress was found hanging from a shower rod in the bathtub of a Greenwich Village apartment by her horrified husband, who cried out, “Why? Why?” cops and witnesses said. Adrienne Shelly, 40, who was also a director and screenwriter, apparently killed herself, cops said…”
She was briefly in Factotum and recently finished Waitress, her second directorial effort. “The petite blonde, who was born Adrienne Levine, was best known for her deadpan comic delivery and early lead roles in two Hal Hartley-directed films set on her native Long Island—The Unbelievable Truth and Trust… A family source said Shelly “wasn’t on any medication. She doesn’t drink and she was a pretty happy person. Everyone is having trouble accepting this as a suicide.” … Factotum producer Jim Stark said that when he told mutual friends that Shelly was dead, “they couldn’t believe it. They thought it was a joke.” “It’s a great loss to all of us who are fans of independent film,” Stark said. “She was extremely intelligent. A beautiful young woman.” Shelley is survived by her husband and a 3-year-old daughter.