Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Judge Locks Up Man Who Dismembered Wife on Anniversary Trip

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Joseph Ferlazzo admitted to shooting his 22-year-old wife, Emily Ferlazzo, twice in the head and stabbing her body 18 times on an anniversary trip to Vermont. He then dismembered her but claimed self-defense at his trial. The jury found Joseph guilty and this week a judge sentenced him to decades in prison. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the emotional sentencing hearing in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: High blood pressure kills silently. Fight back with 120/Life. A daily drink to help lower BP naturally. See results in 2 weeks or your money back. https://www.120life.com/products/120-life-free-shipping?code_bp=CRIMEFIX — Code CrimeFix saves 15%.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Producer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. She will forever be 22, just at the cost of adulthood. The mother of Emily Ferlazzo grieving, remembering her daughter as the man who murdered her learns his punishment. It may be more by the 18 stab wounds post-mortem is that there's an incredible rage that has never been discussed. I take you to the sentencing of And just a reminder that we are now on Spotify. You can watch us and listen to us there. So check us out. The story of Emily Ferlazzo and what happened to her at the hands of the man who vowed to love and protect her is so disturbing. I'm not

even sure that word accurately describes what happened. Emily was just 22 years old and married to Joseph Ferlazzo, who was 45. They'd been married for one year and traveled in their camper to Vermont for their one-year wedding anniversary. Joseph's sister lived in Vermont as well. And on that trip in October of 2021, during an argument one evening, Joseph shot and killed Emily, shooting her twice in the head. And then he stabbed her 18 times and dismembered her. At his trial last year, Ferlazzo took the stand and actually claimed self-defense. So you take the Glock that already has the silencer on it, correct? Yeah, it has a suppressor on it. And what do you do? I climb

into bed and as I'm climbing across Emily, her mutters turned into shouts. She said, that's it. You're dead. And she threw her arm under her pillow, and she pulls her hand out with the torus. How were you feeling? I was feeling horrified. Were you afraid?

I was terrified. As soon as I saw that, I just felt this wave of heat, just red hot. And she started pushing her body up in an instant. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. And I don't know. Like it wasn't, she wasn't, she wasn't stopping. And, uh, I had, uh, I had my, um, I was holding my, my Glock and she started like, she started just like coming up at me and I just I just fired. But the jury didn't buy it and found Ferlazzo guilty. This week, it was time for Joseph Ferlazzo to learn his punishment.

Emily's mother, Adrienne Bass, told the judge about her beautiful daughter. So on July 25th, 1999, at 517 a.m., my beautiful blue-eyed baby girl, Emily, was born. She was born two months after I completed my freshman year of college and two months before my 19th birthday. She was perfect in every way. As she grew, she enjoyed friendships, singing. She could sing the socks off of any song she connected with, painting, riding her bike. Being a big sister.

And dance classes. In high school, she followed her dream, her love, of cosmetology. She wanted to do hair, nails, and everything glittery. She loved going to the beach, singing in talent shows, and searching endlessly for the perfect fancy dress for the dance or prom. Emily challenged herself by running with her cross-country and track teams. When it wasn't her turn to compete, she was the one everyone could hear shouting and cheering on the sideline for her teammates. Adrian Bass said all of it ended that night in October of 2021.

These are the labels given to Emily in her life. A mother, an auntie, a grandmother, a best friend. The labels that she was denied the day she was murdered. She loved babies and dreamed of having children of her own one day. Mom, he keeps accusing me of cheating on him. I try to tell him I'm not, but he won't listen. I've never cheated on him. She said he was telling her she wasn't pulling her weight because she wasn't working, even though he was a big part of the reason she was unemployed.

She was no longer in LNA because he repeatedly messaged her when she was on the floor, insisting that she meet him outside of her break times to accuse her of cheating on him with co-workers. Dozens of bruises from her belly button to her knees. Fingernail gouges down her chest. Hand grab bruises on the back of her arm. I want to tell you about Morgan & Morgan, which is sponsoring today's Law & Crime YouTube takeover. Morgan & Morgan is a firm with more than 1,000 attorneys because they win a lot. In the last few months, Morgan & Morgan has secured a $9.3 million verdict for a car crash victim in Florida, a $5.6 million verdict for another car accident victim in Atlanta,

not to mention a $1.8 million verdict in Kentucky after the insurance company offered them a mere $5,000 in that case. Even if you think your case is not worth millions, why not start a claim and fight for what you deserve? You can start a claim from your phone in just eight clicks. It's just that easy. So if you're ever hurt, visit ForThePeople.com slash YouTube Takeover. Click the link below or scan the QR code on your screen. What Adrienne Bass described was emotional and physical abuse, plain and simple. She described learning that Emily had been murdered. How I felt when the detective told me they had found human remains on the camper that Emily left our home in. They said they couldn't yet confirm that it was my daughter, but I knew. Were all of her parts found?

Can I please just hold her hand? You can cover the rest of her, I just want to hold her hand. Pleading with the medical examiner. Is it too late to ask for a lock of her hair? Questions no mother hollow lost unable to think eat, sleep, or stop crying this is the way I existed as our family and friends carried me through the following few weeks

where I was forced by the actions of the convicted to decide how to care for my daughter's remains which earned to carry her home decide how to care for my daughter's remains. Which urn to carry her home in? How to wash the smell of death from the lock of hair I was given? When, where, and how to celebrate the life she lived?

A 5K runner. A healthy eater, fibromyalgia survivor, retired early head start teacher, second year grad student with the University of New Hampshire, aspiring speech pathologist, actively engaged with my classmates and clients, an advocate for children and families living in poverty

and adversity, labels that one could use to describe my life journey on the day Emily left for Bolton Valley, Vermont. The last time I have turned to buy, I was in the middle of reviewing materials I would use the following week to conduct an aphasia assessment on a patient being seen in our UNH clinic. I never made it to the aphasia assessment, nor have I been able to complete my degree program or even attempt to return to the workforce to earn an income. Bass then described how she is still suffering from the trauma of losing her daughter. I have since endured crushing panic attacks, constant intrusive thoughts and flashback memories of Emily's last few days of life and how she was murdered. Seeing him jump on her

resting body over and over again. Seeing him begin to dismember her body over and over again struggling to hold on to my will to live unable to drive alone frozen in the grocery store intense hyper awareness of sound and motions around me, irritability and dissociation, so many lost days, spent unable to be present as my brain attempts to shield me from the anguish, nightmares, night terrors, insomnia, complete loss of trust in people outside of my inner circle, loss of faith in others that are apparently good and safe.

Fighting for the family dog and her motorcycle. Meeting Remy with a fierceness I didn't know I had in me. Moving out of our New Hampshire home because it was simply too painful to live there without her. Handguns. Black trash bags. hand saws. Three of the things I cannot see, touch or be near without feeling instant response of panic and revulsion as my mind fights to shield me from the images they inflict. Seeing him jump on her and seeing him dismember her. Bass then played videos of Emily for the judge. Hey! Hey!

Hey! What are you doing? Me and Lauren are literally crying. We just got to my house and there's two kittens. This one's all black. Look at him. What is mine? He's so happy. What is the son's name? C.O.J. C.O.J. I call him Shespa.

I call him Bob. He's going to be great. Because Emily's murder was so incredibly heinous, the prosecutor asked for a lengthy sentence. Judge, the state's request in this case is that Mr. Palazzo be sentenced to 50 years to life to serve. The gravity of this request did not come lightly. In October of 2021, Mr. Frilezzo came to Vermont with his then wife to celebrate their one year anniversary and to see his sister Nicole. He was 41 years old at the time. Emily was 22. An argument eventually ensues between the two of them, and Emily is very clear that she wants to leave, that she no longer wants to be

with him, and she goes to bed. And rather than either let her leave or to leave himself to give her space, he sat on the couch and he stewed. He ultimately got up. He walked to the closet. He retrieved a handgun equipped with a silencer. He grabbed a throw pillow from the couch. He jumped on top of her. He pinned her down on the bed, put the throw pillow over her head, over her face, and shot her

not once but twice in the head, killing her. Rather than call for help, rather than go right outside and get his sister to call the police, he put a plastic grocery bag over her head. He tied a trash bag around her neck so that she didn't get blood in the camper. He moved her body to the shower. The prosecutor described how Joseph Ferlazzo then went about his day as if nothing had happened. He put her shoes, her glasses, her phone in a bag to throw out. He bagged up the bloody pillows and the bloody bedding, put new pillows and new bedding on the bed, flipped the mattress, put those new beddings out, and went to bed. The next morning, he makes French press coffee for he and his sister. He takes a shower in her condo, and he goes to eat breakfast with his sister and her boyfriend.

He has an omelet, and he drinks one mimosa. Then he goes to his best friend's house in St. Albans, Sarah and Jason Lane. He tells them that Emily left while she's actually laying dead in his van in their driveway. Later that day, he tattoos his sister. Then he goes to dinner with her and her boyfriend. He doesn't tell them anything about what he did. And he told the jury that he didn't tell them because he didn't want to bring his drama into their life because he considered murdering his wife drama. The prosecutor then

discussed how Ferlazzo even encountered Emily's parents after killing her. So he goes back to his in-laws in New Hampshire in order to get his Jeep. And rather than tell them to take responsibility for what he's done or to give them some peace of mind about where their daughter is, he lies to them. He takes a shower in their shower. He eats a big bowl of spaghetti made by his father-in-law. He gives them her ID. He lies to the police about where his camper is. And he leaves in his Jeep headed back to Vermont. He arrives at another friend's house around 11 p.m. He knows at this point that the police are on to him.

He knows he needs to get the van and get rid of Emily's body. But he sees the police at the Langs, knows they will be finding Emily. He tells Spencer he killed Emily and that she's in the van and he gets out of the car and flees. The prosecutor also pulled cold water on Ferlazzo's self-defense claims. The next day he's taken into custody and he's interviewed by police. This interview from the state's perspective is the one time throughout all of this up to and including today that Mr. Ferlazzo appears to be honest about what happened in the van. He quickly takes responsibility, I believe within one minute, telling the police what he did. And he, although he shows little to no remorse, he does give a detailed explanation about what happened, never once saying anything about self-defense or Emily having a gun.

Despite all of this, Ferlazzo's attorney argued for a much lighter sentence than 50 years. Yes, we asked for a split of 15 years and I fully recognize that that may be considered wholly and unduly lenient given all the facts of this case. The justification is that a voluntary manslaughter was one of the lesser included charges. The jury did not agree and I respect the jury's decision without question, But I do think that his testimony about passion provocation was consistent both in his statement to the police and his testimony. And because of that, I think there is some recognition and weight that the court can, not must, but can in its discretion give to his understanding and experience of what happened. Mr. Ferlazzo has indicated that he now knows that he has had substance abuse issues for years.

He is willing to undergo treatment, both for mental health and for alcohol and drug use. There's no evidence before the court, primarily because of his lack of a criminal record, that he wouldn't comply with an instruction from the court to undergo and continue for the rest of his life any kind of counseling. This is a man who reached 42 years old with no criminal record. Ferlazzo's attorney then said he would have a steady job once released. He developed his profession and contrary to it being used to, as the state said, lure young women, he was a respected and well-known tattoo artist who earned a reasonable income from that profession. He certainly could go back to that profession if and when he's safely released back into society. There's a lot made of his victim bashing, and he's telling the court and the community what he remembers, his reality.

There's nothing else he can do. He cannot just, because he's been convicted, now abandon his claim of self-defense and say, okay, I just made it up. This is what's real for him. That's why he testified to it under oath. But even if that's true, isn't that one of the things the state's pointing is so scary about the case? If he can create a reality for which things that aren't very real become real in his mind as justification for behavior. Well, isn't that isn't that a problem? No, because the court is assuming that his version is not true. And I'm not disputing the verdict. Then it was time for Joseph Ferlazzo to speak. OK. Many things have been said about me. I can say I'm a son. I'm a father. I'm a brother. I'm a friend. Family is always going to be a priority to me. I'm an artist. I'm a coach. I'm a chef.

I'm a hunter. I'm a biker. I'm an outdoorsman. This event doesn't define me or who I am. The history of my crime is that I've had parking tickets and speeding tickets. I've never assaulted people or hurt people. I try to see the good in everyone, so starting fights isn't in my nature. I admit that my reaction was too strong, and it's haunted me every day and every night. My drinking was a real problem, and I had fear and broken trust to make a bad situation worse. We were visiting family, making time to help our loved ones when everything fell apart.

This event has taken from those people the family and friends who did nothing to deserve the heartache and drama that is thrust upon them. I'm so sorry for my actions, and I wish I made better choices. Life is not perfect, and we weren't either. Moving forward, I will commit to doing my best in her memory. And Ferlazzo also apologized to Emily's family, specifically her mother. Adrienne, I'm so incredibly sorry for what happened. Emily was my whole world and she convinced me that I was in jeopardy. I reacted too aggressively and it's been the worst mistake

in the history of my time. Wishing anything else would have played out is a part of everyday sense. The whole thing was so fast, instantly, every possibility and future we plan was gone i drank to numb myself from the most traumatic event in my life little did i know that we'd all be suffering this loss in our own ways it hurts for everyone who knew emily and i we weren't perfect and our people have the burden of the mess we made praying for you and your family to find solace and peace in the wake of this nightmare, to move forward with a healthy path and thrive. Every day will rain tears, but we can remember the good times and greet the sun again, knowing we felt the love of our Emily. The judge didn't hold back when addressing Falazzo.

I want to begin by saying the obvious. Emily Falazzo had a beautiful, beautiful voice. And I'm not just referring to her singing, which we heard here today, which was great. It's Leonard Cohen's song. It's a beautiful song. But it's also clear from listening to the extraordinary impact statements provided by the victims here today, that extended to all areas of her life. It was a voice that deserved to be heard. It was a voice that deserved to grow, to mature, and if necessary, to heal. And it deserved to do that for a long, happy life. That very sadly was cut short by her murder on October 16th, 2021.

And it was cut short at the hands of Joseph Falazza. So that is a segue into looking at the nature and circumstances of this case. This is an horrendous crime. It is an act of cruel and extreme domestic violence that the jury clearly found not only failed entirely to make out self-defense, but lacked any provocation that may reduce the crime to second degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. And the court fully finds that it was a crime that was premeditated and deliberate. Judge Pax sentenced Joseph Ferlazzo to 42 and a half years in prison.

Ferlazzo will not be eligible for release until he serves each and every day of that sentence. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.