NYC mom stabbed to death hours before hubby’s body discovered hanging in nearby park in possible murder-suicide
A Queens mom was found stabbed to death early Tuesday – with her husband’s body found soon after hanging from a tree in a nearby park in a suspected murder-suicide, sources said.
Mary Kate Golding, 34, was found stabbed in the back at home on 41st Street, near 19th Avenue, in Astoria around 12:30 a.m., police said.
Her husband, Joseph Azzaretto, was discovered hanging from a tree in nearby Astoria Park about six hours later, law-enforcement sources said.
Mary Golding was found stabbed to death in her Astoria home Tuesday.Instagram/Mary Golding
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Golding’s husband, Joseph Azzaretto, was found hanging from a tree in Astoria Park.Instagram/Joseph Azzaretto
According to sources, the couple’s 11-month-old boy Nolan was left alone with his slain mother after she was stabbed.
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Golding’s friend recovered the infant after Azzaretto, 33, called her and confessed to the killing, the sources said.
NYPD officers at Astoria Park after Golding’s husband’s body was found hanging from a tree.Stephen Yang for NY Post
“When her friend came and found the body, she was screaming,” a neighbor said, adding that “she took the baby and walked out” of the room where he was left with his dead mother.
Investigators believe her husband might be connected to her slaying — and the two had gotten into an argument earlier that night, according to the sources.
Azzaretto took off in a minivan after the sick stabbing, according to law-enforcement sources — who said he also confessed the killing in a phone call to a family member, who alerted authorities.
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A woman who was possibly related to the victim is seen grieving at the scene of a fatal stabbing in Astoria, Queens, Tuesday, July 21, 2026.Robert Mecea for NY Post
Cops responded shortly after, and found Golding dead, with the knife still in her back, the sources said.
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But Azzaretto himself was dead before cops could get their hands on him, having driven off to Astoria Park, where his lifeless body was found hanging from a tree, according to the sources.
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The Queens basement apartment where police believe Golding was stabbed in the back at her home around 12:30 a.m.Stephen Yang for NY Post
Violence appears to run in Azzaretto’s family, according to sources.
Sources said his brother, Nicholas Azzaretto, was busted for allegedly fatally shooting their father inside their Monroe County, Penn., home in 2020.
Nicholas, now 26, later pleaded guilty to murder in the third degree and voluntary manslaughter, records show.
An employee at a neighboring auto body shop in Astoria said Golding and Azzaretto had only moved to their basement apartment from Pennsylvania about two months ago. Robert Mecea for NY Post
An employee at a neighboring auto body shop said Golding and Azzaretto had only moved to their basement apartment from Pennsylvania two months ago.
Golding studied at NYU and was working as an assistant set decorator for shows like the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Goosebumps at the time of her death, according to her IMDB page and other online profiles.
Azzaretto also worked in the film industry, the neighbor, who requested anonymity, said.
But bad apple Azzaretto quickly developed a reputation for being “crazy,” the neighbor claimed.
“He was an angry person,” the neighbor said. “I decided to avoid him. I didn’t even look at his text messages.”
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The auto body shop worker also described Azzaretto as being “mentally disturbed,” leaving neighbors threatening notes if they parked on his driveway.
He also recounted an instance where Azzaretto physically fought repo men over his car.
“We told him that they called us and they’re going to come repo the car and he went inside and started fighting with them.”
“He was mentally disturbed. We knew that since he got here.”
