Crimeatorium - The Secret She Couldn’t Keep: The Tomaselli Recordings | Part 1

Episode Date: August 13, 2026

This seven-part series features the secretly recorded conversations that helped expose the truth behind Anthony Tomaselli’s death. Crimeatorium obtained the recordings from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.Four years after 85 year old Anthony Tomaselli’s death was attributed to natural causes, his daughter Linda Roberts invited a man she had been dating to her home and entrusted him with a disturbing secret about her father’s final night.Realizing the enormity of what Linda was telling him, the man discreetly began recording their conversation. What started as a private confession would lead investigators back to a death no one had questioned.Part 1 of this seven-part series the secret recording that unraveled everything. Throughout the series, you will hear extensive portions of the original recordings, police interrogations, and interviews with people directly connected to the case.Look for part 2 of this series tomorrow.Music:CO.AG Music https://www.youtube.com/@co.agmusic1823Jessie Gallagher https://jessegallagher.bandcamp.com/musicSource: Pinellas County Sheriff's DepartmentI am always looking for lesser known/obscure true crime cases to cover. If you have a case suggestion for Crimeatorium, please send it to [e-mail].

Welcome to True Crime Stories with Crime-a-Trorian Linda Roberts is in this first video talking to a man she was dating. She wanted to tell him a secret she'd been keeping for four years. So she starts off by saying to him, you don't know the pain I go through over what happened with my father. I have dreams that my father is in the room and it scares me. And he says, wait a minute, I don't get this. You told me you loved your father so much. If he comes back to you in your room in a dream, why are you scared? Her answer is, I can't take it anymore, I'm going to tell you. Then after these comments is when he takes out his phone

and starts recording. To put like six of them in a little bit, because he had a drink every night anyway. Who had a drink every night? My dad. I said, just put them in a little bit of alcohol, six, seven of them, and stir them up.

Because he was waiting for a drink. A beverage? Alcohol? Yeah. Vodka. So, what does she do? She makes a drink this big. Mary Beth? Yes. Instead of making a little drink,

she makes a big drink. Because the seven halcyon, I think it was halcyon that he was taking, which are very strong, would have been plenty enough to just let him go to sleep and and sleep peacefully so she makes drink this big well he isn't gonna he can't drink a drink this big so i looked at her and i said you're fucked up i said she so she already handed him the drink he takes about four swigs of it five and in about 15 minutes

his hands started shaking he was dropping his prayers that he was saying his holy cards but I knew he didn't have enough in his system enough what? of the halcyon what is halcyon?

halcyon is a sleeping pill it's strong it's as strong as you can take wait a minute, your father was taking halcyon on his own even though he's losing his mind no the doctor was giving it to him he was prescribing it to him to your father yes but your father was overusing the halcyon he told the doctor i'm going to take what it takes to put me to sleep at night and your doctor said his doctor said okay do what you got to do yeah and then since you and marybeth knew that he was overtaking it you thought

that would be the way because it wouldn't be suspected that you gave him the halcyon because he was over he was overdosing himself right okay so that's so that was your plan so you would dissolve seven halcyons in the alcohol but instead of putting a right two shots in a cup of vodka she fills the whole thing up with soda and all this other stuff right made like a real drink yeah and she answered him so he took enough to to knock him for a loop really knock him for a loop but this is very hard for me Anthony

I know I've never told anybody this I guess not and obviously I would deny it if you ever told anybody why would I tell somebody what you guys are going to do

you said the body's cremated yes it's cremated your father's cremated we've only been through an investigation the police who investigated the police were there

the police of where well so let me tell you He laid down on the couch Wait, this was seven years ago? Four Four years ago? Yeah

You killed your father four years ago Do you have to say it like that? Well, but that's And don't just say it to me Because it was my sister too And Mary Beth Correct We euthanized him

We didn't kill him Well, euthanasia is not legal Well, it is because hospice does it all the time they give you the lethal dose of morphine i've seen it i've done it myself so you think that if you take it upon yourself that your father's suffering and no medical but he didn't he was at home he wasn't taken to the hospital you think it's upon your look i'm not trying to give you a hard time but did you really think it was upon yourself to decide whether he should be euthanized i mean they i mean they arrested that jack

He didn't want to go to the place, this beautiful place that he was going to go live in, have his own little apartment. He didn't want to go. He refused to go. But you told me, I asked you in the beginning of this, if he asked for euthanasia, and you said no. Well, in his will, he had a DNR, but you don't ask for euthanasia. Well, you do if you want it. That's why they bring in that Jack Kevorkian guy to help them. But what I'm trying to say is, the very first thing I asked you when this conversation started is like, you euthanized your father.

You said yes. And I said, did he ask for euthanasia? And you said no. We made the decision, okay? Right. You and Mary Beth made the decision. Yes. Your sister and you decided that euthanasia was the best thing for him?

Yes. Because medically wise, I knew with a big giant mass in his lung that he had maybe months to live. And he had lost his mind. Maybe it was wrong. Why do you think I battle every day with it? So anyway, he went to sleep. Okay. We thought he was...

Dead? Dead. And? He wasn't. He opened his eyes. He opened his eyes. And he looked at us. He looked at you.

And I said, now what do we do? You asked her now what to do? Yeah, I said, what do we do now? So then what? I don't know if I can even tell the rest of it. You put a pillow over his face. Yeah, we did. Not a pillow, but we did.

And just what do you mean, yes? By pinching his nose? Did you pinch your father's nose? How did you do it? I can't talk anymore. What do you mean you can't talk? You already told me. This is the only way to get it off your chest.

You've never told anybody. You might as well finish so I know and you know that the truth has been told. Did you pinch his nose and hold his mouth? I mean, that's very personal. That's probably why you're having problems right now, mental problems. Which you do, by the way. You realize you can't tell a therapist this, right? No I can't tell the therapist

And we can't tell anybody Can't tell anybody Well anyway There's no proof of it He's cremated He's gone These ashes There's no evidence

There's evidence If you admitted it If you walked into the police And admitted you did that There would be evidence What if she does What if she goes crazy Your sister

Mary Beth Is crazy What if she goes crazy one day And walks in and admits it I just deny it. You would just deny it? And you think that would... Do you have to stand there and admit that I killed my father?

Not me, but we did. Who pinched his nose? She did. And did you hold his mouth? I put a washcloth in it. You put a washcloth in his mouth? How can you live with yourself? It's hard, Anthony.

it's very hard but he was he was alive and you ended his life i know i did did you did did you guys discuss money before you did this how you could inherit no it had nothing to do with money nothing to do with money are you sure we were living with what we saw and a doctor just told me your father has a massive cancerous his whole lung is full of cancer he may have two months left to live. But there's been miracles in the past. Okay, so what do you want me to do now? Go confess to the police? I didn't

say to do that. Only you know what will set you free. Nothing will set me free. You can't decide that a miracle of modern medicine couldn't have saved him and cleared his cancer out. Never. Never in a million years. You can't decide that. The doctor

said it. He told me. Fuck the doctor. Your father's dying. But he's not dead. you can't end his life you know this you know you can't end a life you know it's murder yes i do that's murder you i look at you little innocent you and you've actually murdered a person in this world and your own father to boot i've never murdered a person i'm dangerous i'm a dangerous individual people start fights with me and i i don't just wrestle with them i pound them into oblivion and i've never murdered anybody i can't believe it i've even wanted to in the past I've even thought

So then why do you think Now what are you going to do What do you mean That I've told you I'm just I can't believe that you You murdered Not me

Me and my sister I can't believe that you Don't put it just on me We made the decision together As a pack She's a dumbass You're the ringleader You know that

The first person to think Let's just euthanize him Was you You know that And she agreed No it really wasn't And she agreed No

That's not true oh you both said it at the same time you went one, two, three let's euthanize we both decided at the same time because actually you don't know my sister my sister has a temper ten times worse than I do

you don't know my heart but why did she have a temper why was this ending his life anything to do with a temper she was mad at him Yes, they had terrible arguments because he didn't want to go into Brookfield. So she was mad at him when she murdered him? Yes, she was mad at him.

So that really is murder. I talked to the doctor, and I knew he was dying. But him and her had been fighting since Shirley died. Who's Shirley? The person he was with 20 years. Shirley Tomaselli? No, Shirley Shannon. Shirley Shannon

He never married her Shirley Shannon She never took his name They're not married Okay So But here's the thing You knew that

That he was gonna die Well you say you knew He was gonna die But you don't really know You heard from a doctor That he was gonna die Did you ever hear Of a misdiagnosis

Did you ever hear that Please tell me You've been in the medical Profession Have you ever heard Of a doctor amputating The wrong leg Yeah

Have you ever heard him saying I'm sorry to tell you this Your father's gotta What are you gonna What are you trying to do Make me feel What do you want me to do I'm just saying

I know what I did was wrong I'm pissed off That you murdered your own father And you said he was The greatest guy ever He was That's why we I did

We did it Because we loved him No you said Mary Beth Was actually mad at him So she was angry And she had a temper She was happy to murder him For different reasons

True I wanted to put him out of his misery. But she was mad at him. True? Yeah, she was mad at him. So it could be said that she did it with malice. You know what I mean? In a way.

So maybe she's more to blame. Like, she was mad and she's like, let's just kill him. I'm sick of his ass. No, we used the word kill. Let's euthanize him. We used the word put him out of his misery. But she was mad at him. You just admitted it.

You said you don't know my sister She's got a temper ten times mine And they were fighting And she was happy to pinch his nose I don't know if she was happy But at the time That was the only thing we could do At this point

See you don't know If this ever got out And my family found out I'm not telling your family What the fuck is that going to do It's not going to bring them back Bring them back Are you kidding me

They would probably try to put us in jail Well they will put you in jail for murder I don't even think there's a statute of limitations On murder And forget about a cremated body That's not going to matter If Mary Beth tells them She pinched his nose

and you put a rag in his mouth that's enough well we're not going to say that so now you can hate me even more I don't hate you

I pity you how can you I could never I just couldn't imagine well you didn't see my father okay so you saw him and he was

but it's not your place I still can't get over And you're saying that Mary Beth had a mean streak in her, and I do see that in her. So whoever mentioned about the doctor saying there's a mass and he might die, again, it could have been a misdiagnosis, though. Call you up. Guess what? We found him. It wasn't because he couldn't breathe.

I'm saying what if the doctor saw a mass and then it was the wrong film? You didn't see it. He already had cancer. It spread to the other lung. I'm just saying there was a mis... Listen, why are you arguing? What if there was a misdiagnosis? There wasn't.

But what if there was? Accidents happen, right? I said somebody cuts off the wrong leg. What if they said, oh, he calls you back. It's the wrong film. I'm looking at some... What are you trying to make me do and say to you? I'm not trying to make...

I have to live with this every day of my life. But... Okay, I'm just saying if it was a misdiagnosis and they looked at the wrong film and they were going to call you back the next day and say your father's actually it's not metastasizing it's actually getting better

he's not breathing for another reason just bring him into the hospital and we'll fix him but it's too late because you put a rag in his mouth do you see what I'm saying please tell me you see what I'm saying I see what you're saying

okay so you still murdered him because he could have went in for medical treatment you're not allowed to do that he lost his mind you don't know that he could have got his mind back how

it's not your But he had Alzheimer's, dementia. They were going to put him in the locker room. But he's a human. In a locker room. You can't end a living being's life. I see it every day. Hospice ends living life.

They kill people. No, they don't. They give them the lethal dose of morphine. What are you telling me? Who says they can do that? They do it. On purpose to murder them. Absolutely.

But that's against the law too, correct? They do it. But is it against the law? It's against the law and they do it. You've seen hospice do that. I have seen hospice do it. When you were working for this Dr. Mazur? Yeah.

They overdose you with morphine. That's it. It's ended. You're dead. And they say he died for another reason? They let the morphine wear off? No, the morphine kills him, puts him in the respiratory arrest. But then when they do an autopsy, they just say the morphine is worn off?

They give you You're in so much pain With cancer or whatever is killing you You are asking for The biggest dose you can get I want more morphine Okay And they give it to you and they kill you

Okay, whatever Getting back to Mary Beth I think when you mentioned he's sick She probably said let's kill him Because she was mad at him No, the word kill never came to me Okay, let's end his misery But she was doing it out of malice

Because you just told me she was so mad at him From arguing True? They argued a lot. So true. There was some malice involved in what she did. So she's more to blame. If I had to say yes, yes, there was malice involved

because they were having horrible arguments. She left for a few days, and I was there by myself with my niece. But I'm trying to say she had no qualms when you said let's. Who first said? Who first said let's? I don't remember who exactly first said let's do it, but we were laying in bed together. where the hell was this where did you guys live where is that in palm harbor right here yeah

in palm harbor florida yes this is only four years ago my dad has lived here 64 years where did you guys live in palm harbor my father we went and stayed with him where was his house He had a fella in Wexford West Wexford West W-E-X-F-O-R-D Now what are you doing? Planning on doing something to me?

What do you mean? Because now you have me afraid That I knew I shouldn't have told you And my sister has asked me Did you tell Anthony about that? I said no I have not Why is she scared? Because she doesn't trust you.

Well, who did she tell? Nobody. And I've told nobody. In this whole lifetime, nobody knows, just you and her, and now me. Listen, I was raised Catholic. You were too, weren't you? What do you think? Yes, I do.

I know about moral sins, yes. You might go to hell. you actually might go to hell I don't know how to undo that you killed a person and it was your father that's actually specifically called out in the Bible

in the commandments killing your own father there might not be anything worse this person sired you you wouldn't be here You might go to hell I do, I do What am I going to do?

What are you going to do? You're going to suffer? I ask for forgiveness every day It doesn't work that way It says in the Bible God forgives who asks Really? For murder?

It doesn't specifically say Next you're going to tell me that John the Baptist was a murderer and then he got recruited Anthony what so you

pulled it out of me and I told you pulled it out of you why I am so how did I pull it out of you I asked you

what the hell is wrong with you and you started saying there's some secret I've been keeping that I've never told anybody so I asked you I said

tell me how's that pulling it out you were willing to talk were you not were you not i told you out of my free will yes but i would deny it well i'm not asking you to say it to anybody else if you ever tell anybody else you'll you'll definitely go to prison and then you'll go to hell i still might you may go be pissed at me and tell someone I'm not going to tell anybody. And if I do, they can, that's, that's way far disconnected from your own admission.

I asked you to tell me what your secret was. And you said, let me begin by telling you, and I'm telling you of my own free will. I said tell me it'll set you free so you were not coerced to make this admission do you think it set me free do you feel better

I'll never feel better you stuffed a fucking rag in your father's mouth so he couldn't breathe and your sister held his nose I don't think there's anything worse and I thought I was somebody who could

like I said possibly all the fighting I used to do or whatever I thought I could Maybe kill somebody someday But But I don't look at it as killing him Why not?

He was breathing And then by your hand He stopped breathing With a rag In his mouth Look at these forensic file shows That I watch all the time I was telling you about

That's how We were thoroughly investigated Because the hospice was not involved The police were there for They didn't take my They laid my father on the floor He was there for 10 hours But you told me

the one thing you did tell me about your father is that you tried to give your father cpr and that's the one see that's a lie you now you have to admit that's a lie you're like i was giving my yes it's a lie i knew he was dead you knew he was dead but you said that the paramedics was dead because he had because you killed him because he had peed his pants and i know it was yes i know was dead but you did it for more of a show when the paramedics came in you were doing chest compressions admit it admit it i admit it because then they're saying they used because you told me early on when i first met you're like this terrible thing happened i had to give my own father chest compressions and i couldn't get off of him because i just wouldn't accept that he

wasn't dead at that point it is true i was probably in my mind trying to revive him no you weren't You knew he was dead I knew he was dead But I thought maybe I could breathe him back to life So that But you When the paramedic

I know I'm a terrible person So what do you want me to do You called the paramedics And when you called them They came And that's when you started Chest compressions No

I started them immediately When I walked over to him Because I thought Maybe really he didn't die Oh really So the paramedics got there And you were still doing chest compressions

They had to pull you off you said But just two seconds ago you said you admit it I said you were doing chest compressions Just for show I admit it And you said yes I admit it What is this judge and jury now But you admitted it two seconds ago

You said yes I admit it You knew he was dead You were just doing that for show More than trying to save him because you knew he was dead. You're not stupid. You're not stupid.

But doing the chest compressions when the paramedics walked in was a nice touch to make sure that they thought you were really trying to find him. Well, thanks, Anthony. But is it true? It was a nice touch though, right?

You know better. It was a little bit show, right? Because you knew he was dead. Before the paramedics got in there and pulled you off, like you said, you said they pulled you off. But you knew he was dead

You knew what you were doing Wasn't going to revive him True? True This is bad It was only four years ago Mary Beth could tell on you And I don't know anything about the law

But the statute of limitations I always heard was seven years She could tell on me She was involved in it She did it I always heard the statute of limitations For crimes was seven years But I think murder

is is there's no statute so are you going to call the police on

me I didn't say that you think I'm a terrible person I think

you're a confused and deranged person and my sister is too I think

she has mental issues that go beyond yours I think it's deranged That you killed your father With a rag Well

I've never met anybody That murdered anybody That admitted it I'm kind of Shocked to be sitting You don't think there's people We didn't murder him We euthanized him

Oh my god You're a smart lady You're gonna get into semantics See now that scares me That you have a gun Like you could You murder You're a murderer

No, I would never murder anybody. You used to keep that gun sitting next to your bed saying Ted was going to come after you. I would never hurt anybody. But you killed your father. Why can't you use the word kill? He was alive, and then at your hand, he was dead. Say, I killed my father. Say it. Say it.

No, I'm not going to say it because I don't feel that's what we did to him. I feel like we put him out of his misery. Well, maybe as a result of dying, he stopped suffering. But isn't that called murder? Isn't it called murder when you end a person's life? It's a homicide. You know when a cop shoots a suspect, it's a homicide, and he gets suspended? And they investigate a homicide.

It's a homicide. Now they find out if it's justified. Was what you did called homicide? Yes, but I feel it was justified. Stop it. Was it homicide? Yes. okay it was homicide then you have to feel what's justified the cop shooting the the bank robber

they investigate it they find out it was justified you doing it to your father because he had a mass they may not find out that that's justified they may not think that's justified you could go to the fucking electric chair here or whatever they do here in florida the lethal injection i don't know. Like Ted Bundy. They still have that here in this state. It doesn't matter how old you are. You should be scared. You should be. I don't know how you live with that every day. I really don't. It's very hard. I can't believe it. And Mary Beth. And she was mad at him at the time to think of you two

over that old man who couldn't move and her saying yeah yeah yeah let's do it I'm mad at him anyway but she was quick to do it because you told me she has a mean streak in her and you said you don't know her temper she did it with malice she might be more to blame than you

there was malice in her heart to end her own father's life true? possibly she was mad at him she had told you she was mad at him She had no problem participating Well they were having screening matches

She had no problem participating In the Euthanasia True? True Because she was mad at him You might have had a different You might have had a motive

That you really cared about his suffering She might have had a little bit of that But she had no problem saying Let's get rid of this old bastard He just pisses me off True? I don't know if I can say that. I just know that they were arguing terribly.

My father was arguing with her awfully. 20 minutes ago, you told me, you don't know my sister. She participated in this. She was so mad at him. She, my sister has a very, my sister has a very bad temper that you don't know about. Okay, but that's part of the reason that she participated. True? I don't know her reasons.

I just know my reasons. my father was suffering but if you had to get alzheimer's and he was dying of cancer with he couldn't breathe right but she was not as concerned to be going through torture and and in the hospital and they were going to do surgery and cut him open and he was going to die probably within weeks maybe that's not your call but your sister was but your sister was angry at him right yes they had been fighting every day so there's Possible motive there True?

Who am I to judge? Who am I to judge? Because I'm involved in it But you're smart Do you believe that your sister Possibly had a different motive That she was mad That helped her make the call

To say yeah let's do it I don't know What do you think? I don't know I don't know what to say to that 20 minutes ago you said I can only tell you That they were arguing terribly

and my dad was saying terrible things to her and she was saying terrible things to me. So when you're mad at somebody and there's malice and you don't mind participating in the murder, euthanasia, whatever you want to call it, homicide, don't you feel that there's a motive of malice? I don't want you to sound like a stupid person right now.

Don't you agree? My sister and I have been through so much. Do you agree that when there's malice, that's another motive? Right now, she hates me to death. Isn't that a motive though That she was mad Don't you think she didn't mind pinching his nose shut

While he didn't breathe a little bit And got a little bit of relief Thinking he will never yell at her again He's old anyway And maybe she loved him for his whole life But now he's just a pain in the ass She didn't mind pinching his nose shut I don't know

How can I say that Anthony I can only tell you what I observed Before his death you observed that he was sick he wasn't breathing but you never took him to the hospital she was mad that he had been yelling at her right he did go to the doctor he had the chest x-ray and the doctor called me and told me because i was his power of attorney well so what do you want me to do

go turn myself in and go go to jail would you think that would help you no it would not help me why you'd be put on death row I know we both would

do you think you deserve that no why because I feel I put my father out of the misery that he was going through

and gonna go through even worse okay this is more than I could even absorb I've never been in the presence I might have been

in the presence of a murderer but I've never been in the presence of a murderer that told me they were a murderer this isn't brand new

for me and I'm 53 years old and you're 62 or 3 you're 62 still One. Excuse me.

It's terrible. Certainly it's terrible. It's terrible, I know. So what are you going to do? What do you mean, what am I going to do? What can I do? You just said you would deny it. I know that I would never trust you

or Mary Beth With anything delicate Because you've killed your own father I don't think If you did that only four years ago This wasn't fucking 30 years ago This was four years ago 30 years ago you would have been young

He was calling you your mother's name And he was 87 years old Yes he had Alzheimer's Was his name Anthony? Yes His name was Anthony as well? Anthony Tomaselli your father's name was Anthony Tomaselli

yes Anthony Joseph and he was 87 four years ago he would have been 91 now this happened right here in Palm Harbor Florida unbelievable this is this is one of those things you see on the

forensic files they remake the whole murder they don't care they thought there was a a motive or not they don't care about your motive they care about solving crimes of who ends people's lives it's terrible i'm a terrible person i i i don't know i mean i'm always one wearing the black cowboy hat but i've never murdered anybody and i never thought i could come close to it unless they were hurting me or my family i think i could probably do it to protect

but never to end a life because I thought it was my right well you didn't work in the medical profession for 30 years fuck that Linda that doesn't give you

begging you to help them that's not your place you're not God you're not judge jury and executioner or God

you know that right that's why you fear hell right now true yes because you know people aren't supposed to do that

and other people's lives. But do I have a choice when my life ends, where I'm going? No. No? I don't. You don't?

How many times I've asked for forgiveness for it? No. Many. Shit. I got a dentist, I think I got a dentist, what's today's date?

I don't know, I can't see the point. Approximately. Twelve. It's the 12th of February? Wait a minute. What month are we in? February.

Well, my sister's birthday was Sunday the 10th. 11th, 12th. Today's Tuesday? Yes. The 12th of February? I'm not even writing 2019 yet. Are you able to write 2019? I'm messing it up and everything.

Like I put, if today's February 12th, 2019, I put February 12th, 2018. I can't stop doing it. It's just a habit. Okay, so now have I ended enough of our relationship for you? I think that what you did was reprehensible. And I just can't imagine you living with yourself. Thanks for watching!