Motel murder case: Old money, shady connections

The convoluted Las Vegas murder that has been connected to the wealthy du Pont family clearly wasn't a Colombo-style who-done-it.

Court documents in the case show the signs were clear and the clues plentiful. And it didn't take long for a key player to admit her role in the case that reeks of old money, tight family control and shady connections.

Police became involved when Patricia Margello's body was found at a seedy downtown motel that specializes in porno television and three-hour rentals. She had been strangled before being tied up with coaxial cable and panty hose, wrapped in a sheet with a pillow over her face and then sheathed in plastic bags.

The body was stuffed into an air conditioning vent, where it stayed undetected for three days.

Margello, 45, was the girlfriend of Dean MacGuigan, who was in Las Vegas from his Delaware home to establish residency and get a divorce. MacGuigan is the son of Lisa Dean Moseley, a direct descendent of the founder of the DuPont Co.

Her current husband, Christopher Moseley, was a former gardener at the du Pont family estate in Delaware and has been alleged to be the mastermind behind Margello's murder.

After the body was found, it didn't take long for police to make the connection to Diana Hironaga, 40, and ultimately to Christopher Moseley, the records show.

She was the one who had rented the room in her own name before the sheet, pillow and cable turned up missing.

Margello had telephoned MacGuigan from the room saying she was with Hironaga and two men and not feeling very safe, according to court records. MacGuigan told police that was the last time he spoke to his girlfriend.

He said when he never heard from Margello again, he called Hironaga, who he knew as a friend, and she said the four had left the motel and split up at the Hilton hotel-casino.

Metro Police documents filed with Justice Court indicate that when police questioned Hironaga, she finally admitted her role and began point the finger of guilt at the others she said were deeply involved.

One of those was Christopher Moseley, MacGuigan's step-father, who Hironaga said had been the financier and mastermind behind the scheme that was dubbed "Operation Dean."

That plan was to get MacGuigan divorced and have Margello killed.

Hironaga had met with Moseley at the Mardi Gras Motel on Paradise Road in June to initiate the divorce plan, and a July 29 meeting resulted in the plot to kill Margello, the documents reveal.

The price was $25,000, Hironaga stated.

Hironaga told police she recruited Ricardo "Rico" Murillo, 37, and a man named "Joe" and set the wheels in motion for the murder at the Del Mar Motel, 1411 Las Vegas Blvd. South on Aug. 2.

After Margello called MacGuigan from the room and indicated she was going to be leaving the motel room, Hironaga said the woman was attacked and murdered as she came out of the bathroom.

Two days later, Hironaga and Murillo were flown first class to Philadelphia to meet with Christopher Moseley and be paid for the slaying, Hironaga told police.

Ticket stubs from the flight were found by police in Hironaga's room at the Showboat hotel-casino.

Hironaga, Murillo and Moseley have been charged in the case and were indicted earlier this week by a federal grand jury because of the interstate aspect of the case.

Hironaga and Murillo also face murder charges in state court and are scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 27 in Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo's courtroom.

Court records show that when Murillo was arrested on Sept. 1, he denied knowing Moseley or MacGuigan or having any involvement in the murder.

MacGuigan, however, identified a photo of Murillo as a man he knew to be connected to Hironaga.

Murillo also denied traveling to Philadelphia despite the ticket stub in his name.

"Murillo could only say that he was being framed," the police report says.

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