NJ woman who has MS and uses wheelchair charged with killing husband; couple planned divorce

NJ woman with MS charged with killing husband

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — A mother of three who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair was charged with fatally shooting her husband inside their northern New Jersey home.

Family members said the couple were planning to end their 19-year-marriage, but authorities have not determined a motive.

Amalia Mirasola, 44, was charged with homicide and a weapons offense one day after her 43-year-old husband, Carl, was found mortally wounded in a bedroom at their Butler home.

Amalia Mirasola remained in the county jail on Sunday afternoon. Bail was set at $1 million. Her lawyer, Robert Stack, has said she has no memory of what happened inside the home.

Butler police said the shooting was reported shortly after 8 a.m. by someone who made a 911 call from the home, but further details have not been disclosed.

The couple’s children — a 13-year-old daughter and 7-year-old twins — were home at the time of the killing, but authorities would not say whether they witnessed it.

Relatives say the daughter called her paternal aunt in Florida to tell her about the shooting. The woman then repeatedly asked the girl to check on her father, but she refused, and instead stayed inside another room in the house with her brothers.

The children are now staying with a relative in northern New Jersey.

Carl Mirasola was shot multiple times, but Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi declined to release details of the circumstances, including what type of weapon was used.

Multiple sclerosis damages the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. Symptoms can vary widely from patient to patient.