Upper Makefield Native, Council Rock Grad Killed In Apparent Murder-Suicide

A former Upper Makefield Township resident and Council Rock High School North graduate was killed in her New York City apartment early Tuesday in what police are investigating as a possible murder-suicide committed by her husband.

Mary Kate Golding, 34, died inside her home on 41st Street in Astoria, Queens, after sustaining a stab wound to her back, according to the New York City Police Department.

Officers responded to an assault call at the residence around 12:24 a.m.

Fire Department of New York EMS personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.

Golding grew up in Upper Makefield Township and attended Council Rock High School North in Newtown Township, according to public records and reports. She later attended New York University.

Golding worked in the film and TV industry as an assistant set decorator and set dresser on several big productions, including “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Goosebumps,” “Marry Me,” and “The Big Sick.”

The New York Post reported that Golding’s husband, Joseph Azzaretto, is alleged to have called a family member and a friend of Golding’s to confess to the killing before fleeing the apartment.

The friend went to the residence, found Golding, and brought the couple’s unharmed 11-month-old son to safety, according to the New York Post and the Queens Chronicle.

At approximately 6:39 a.m., roughly six hours after the initial police call, city cops answered a report of an unconscious person at Astoria Park South and Shore Boulevard, according to the NYPD.

Officers located an unresponsive man, who was between 30 and 35 years old. He was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS, authorities said.

Authorities said there appeared to be no criminality involved in the man’s death.

The New York Post identified him as Azzaretto.

An NYPD source cited by People Magazine described the deaths as a “possible murder-suicide.”

Azzaretto, a Stroudsburg native, also worked in film, according to public records and statements given by neighbors to the press.

Azzaretto’s younger brother, Nicholas Azzaretto, used a shotgun to killed their father, Frank Azzaretto, during a domestic dispute at their Monroe County home, the New York Daily News and Pocono Record reported.

Monroe County court records state Nicholas Azzaretto later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He received 10 years of probation with electronic monitoring and treatment.