NYC Fire Marshal's Wife Guilty In '07 Murder

Staten Island DA: Janet Redmond Mercereau Was Husband's 'Executioner'

WCBS-TV 5/21/09

The wife of a Staten Island fire marshal who was shot to death in his own bed in 2007 has been found guilty of his murder, CBS 2 has learned.

Janet Redmond-Mercereau, who was dubbed her husband's "executioner" by Staten Island District Attorney Donald Donovan, was convicted by a jury on Thursday afternoon.

It's been more than a year since Redmond-Mercerau was charged with the Dec. 2, 2007 murder of Douglas Mercereau, who was shot three times in the head while he lay sleeping in his bed. The gun used in the murder was his own.

Redmond-Mercereau's explanation for what went on that night had prosecutors scratching their heads soon after her husband's death.

"She doesn't know what happened that night," defense attorney Mario Gallucci said last March when she was charged. "When she awoke she did what she normally did, she took a shower, she did the laundry."

Gallucci claimed the former school teacher and mother of two was innocent.

Donovan said during the two hours between the murder and when 911 was called, Redmond-Mercereau took several showers, washed her clothes and washed the gun used to kill her husband.

"She showered numerous times to take DNA and any forensic evidence off the murder weapon. Shell casings were removed from the scene and put somewhere else in the house," Donovan said.

Redmond-Mercereau now faces 25 years to life in prison.