In the two years before his death, Rocky V. Linzalone, a 74-year-old White man, had suffered a series of debilitating strokes that left him unable to walk and confined to a bed in his Middletown, New Jersey, home. His wife, Michele Linzalone, was his sole caregiver, a role that family members later told investigators had begun to take a toll on her, leading to resentment toward her husband.
On the morning of December 13, 2021, at approximately 10:13 a.m., Michele placed a 911 call from the couple's home on Borden Road. She told the dispatcher she had accidentally shot her husband. When Middletown police arrived, Michele directed them to a second-floor bedroom where they found Mr. Linzalone with a fatal gunshot wound to his head. Despite the efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Michele Linzalone, then 73, initially told police a story of a tragic mistake.
She claimed she had been "playing" with a handgun, believing it was unloaded, when she aimed it at her sleeping husband and it discharged. However, a joint investigation by the Middletown Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office soon uncovered evidence that pointed away from an accident and toward a deliberate act.
The most compelling evidence came from Michele’s own iPhone. A search of her internet history revealed that just 22 minutes before she called 911, she had searched, "If you shoot someone in the head will they die instantly?" Other recent queries included, "What does it feel like to get shot in the head," "Do you die instantly from a gunshot to the head? Do you feel any pain at all?," and "Are hollow-point bullets more powerful?" Investigators also noted that she told them she had waited up to 30 minutes to call for help because she was in shock and had taken the time to get dressed and brush her teeth.
Based on the investigation, Michele Linzalone was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. She was taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution and held without bail as the case proceeded.
The case later reached a resolution when Michele, then 77, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter. As part of the plea agreement, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to recommend a sentence of 10 years in New Jersey state prison.
As of her guilty plea in October 2026, Michele Linzalone was being held in a secure medical facility while awaiting her formal sentencing hearing.
