Ernest Ingenito

Ernest Ingenito
Born	(1924-06-27)June 27, 1924 Wildwood, New Jersey
Died	October 7, 1995(1995-10-07) (aged 71)
Nationality	American
Spouse	Theresa Mazzoli
Parent(s)	Ernest and Helen Ingenito
Details
Date	November 17, 1950
Location(s)	Franklin Township and Minotola, New Jersey
Killed	5
Injured	4
Weapons	Luger, Mauser C96, .32 caliber rifle

Ernest Ingenito (1924–1995) was an American mass murderer who shot nine people, his wife Theresa (Mazzoli) and her family, killing five and injuring 4, on November 17, 1950 in Franklin Township and Minotola, New Jersey.

Background

Ingenito was born in Wildwood, New Jersey, on May 27, 1924, to Ernest and his wife, Helen (née Martin) Ingenito. He was the oldest of three children. The family moved frequently between Wildwood and Philadelphia, and his parents—who argued constantly—finally separated when he was thirteen. Ingenito first got in trouble for stealing when he was ten and was first sent to a reformatory at fourteen. He continued to go in and out of reformatories for the next few years, until he was paroled and allowed to return to Wildwood to live with his mother.

He married briefly in 1941 but his wife left him for another man while he briefly served in the US Army; during World War II, he was stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. But he was dishonorably discharged in 1946 after being court-martialed twice: once for going AWOL, and a second time for striking two superior officers. He served two years of an eight-year sentence at Green Haven Correctional Facility, the military prison at Sing Sing, for the second offense.

Shortly after his discharge, Ingenito married 21-year-old Theresa Mazzoli, the daughter of Michael and Pearl Mazzoli, who owned a truck farm on Piney Hollow Road in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. Theresa convinced Ingenito to move in with her family and the young couple initially appeared to have had a happy marriage. Ingenito worked on the farm and they had two sons. While Ingenito got along well with his father-in-law Michael, he, like many others did not like his mother-in-law, Pearl, who was domineering and manipulative to the point of accompanying the newlyweds everywhere they went, including their honeymoon. Ernie quickly realized that in this house it was “Pearl’s way or no way”, he became enraged when she refused to pay him for working on the farm. The relationship between Ingenito and his wife and her family rapidly deteriorated after he took an outside job at a local appliance store. When Ernie demanded his wife move with him and the children into their own home, it became a problem in that Theresa could not stand to be more than five feet from her Mother and demanded they continue to live with her parents. Ernie refused to live in a house where he was treated as an outsider, continuously ignored and rejected by his wife. When Michael learned that his son-in-law was seeing other women, he threw Ingenito out of the house. Ingenito moved a few miles away to board with Al and Kay Rulis, friends of his father. As Theresa proceeded with plans for a divorce, Ingenito reportedly contacted lawyers about seeing his children. The Mazzolis and Theresa refused to speak with Ernie or his attorney, refused to let him see his sons, claiming they wanted "no parts" of him. In the meantime, he had taken up target shooting and began buying ammunition at local stores for his growing gun collection.

Killings

At about 8 p.m. on November 17, 1950, Ingenito armed himself with a Luger, a Mauser C96, and a .32 caliber rifle and drove to the Mazzoli house. He confronted Theresa and demanded to see their children; when Michael intervened, Ingenito shot him twice, killing him. As Theresa fled into the adjacent dining room, he shot her in the stomach and shoulder.

When his mother-in-law Pearl fled across the street to her parent's home, Ingenito followed. He shot her mother, Theresa Pioppi, in the doorway, then stepped over her body to shoot and killed his wife's pregnant aunt, Marion Pioppi. He wounded his wife's nine-year-old cousin Jeannie, then shot and killed Pearl Mazzoli, who tried to hide in a closet. Ingenito also killed John Pioppi, one of Pearl's brothers, who had chased after Ingenito with a knife.

Ingenito continued his killing spree, driving to Minotola, where Theresa's aunt and uncle, Frank and Hilda Mazzoli, lived. He shot both of them, in front of their two younger children. Although critically wounded, both survived. Ernie was arrested by the New Jersey State Police. Although he confessed everything during questioning, he later refused to sign a statement admitting his guilt.

Sentencing and Later Life

Ingenito was initially sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Pearl Mazzoli. His lawyer, Frank Sahl, was able to persuade the jury that they did not want the responsibility of sending him to the electric chair. While all four counts of assault were dismissed, five years passed before he was brought to court on the four additional murder charges. Although his attorneys initially planned to plead that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, they later changed that plea to one of "no contest" on all four counts. The judge allowed him to serve all five sentences concurrently. Since New Jersey did not have a life sentence without possibility of parole at the time, he was released in 1974 and lived in Trenton, where he worked for Trap Rock Industries. Although Ingenito expressed no remorse about his killing spree, and reportedly bragged about it to friends and associates, he was well liked by his neighbors and found to reliable and hard working by his employers. In 1994, he was arrested again, this time for sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a minor, the fifteen-year old daughter of a girlfriend he had been involved with for eight years. New Jersey officials, disturbed by what they termed a miscarriage of justice upon finding that Ingenito served only twenty four years for killing five people, was quick to accept the accusations of the young woman coming shortly after he had stopped supporting her and her mother. He died in custody on October 7, 1995.

See also

• Howard Unruh, another New Jersey-based spree killer

References

• Blackwell, John. Notorious New Jersey: 100 True Tales of Murders and Mobsters, Scandals and Scoundrels. Rutgers University Press: Piscataway, 2007. pp. 69–71 (paperback edition)
• Martinelli, Patricia A. "Rain of Bullets: The True Story of Ernest Ingenito's Bloody Family Massacre." Stackpole Books: Mechanicsburg, PA, 2010.
• Nash, Jay Robert. Bloodletters and Badmen: A Narrative Encyclopedia of American Criminals From the Pilgrims to the Present. M. Evans and Company: New York, 1973. pp. 261–263 (note: Nash miscounts the number of victims as eight)

External Link

• Ernest Ingenito at Find a Grave