Man arrested for allegedly killing estranged wife 2 years ago

Credit: Allegheny County Police

Credit: Allegheny County Police

Allegheny County police have arrested a man they say killed his estranged wife two years ago in Penn Hills.

Jessica Vecchiola was found dead in her home Feb. 6, 2017.

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Police learned there were suspicious circumstances surrounding Jessica's death, and for the past two years, they have investigated.

>>PREVIOUSFamily still seeking answers nearly two years after unexpected death

Originally, the medical examiner ruled Jessica's death as a serious spinal cord injury. She had been internally decapitated.

Days before her death, Jessica's mother said she was attacked in a road rage incident that put her in a neck brace.

In the criminal complaint, police say, "Jessica contacted her [mother] and informed that she had been assaulted by two unknown women. During the incident, she stated the females demanded that she leave 'Tony' alone."

When Jessica died, her manner of death was listed as pending. In January of this year, the death was ruled a homicide.

After presenting evidence to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, an arrest warrant was issued Thursday for 34-year-old Antonio Vecchiola.

He was arrested at a strip mall in Monroeville and taken to the Allegheny County Jail, where he is to be arraigned for criminal homicide.

According to the criminal complaint, Jessica and Antonio were planning to meet up the night she died, but investigators say he made it sound like he hadn't heard from her.

Police searched his cellphone records, and they implied that messages about their meetup were manually deleted, according to police. Plus, his cellphone pinged a tower near her home.

The next day, Jessica's mother found her dead inside her home.

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