A Queens man found hanged from a park tree after stabbing his wife to death in the presence of their infant son wanted to avoid becoming like his slain abusive father, a family friend speaking publicly for the first time said.
Years before Joseph Azzaretto, 33, stabbed his 34-year-old wife, Mary Kate Golding, early Tuesday in their Astoria basement apartment, Azzaretto’s younger brother fatally shot their father in the family’s Pennsylvania home, according to local reports and court records.
Azzaretto’s brother took a plea deal to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years probation. His father was in a violent fight with his mother when Nicholas Azzaretto, 20 at the time, shot him.
Both prosecutors and defense lawyers recognized in court that the fight was only the latest in a long history of abuse in the family, the Pocono Record reported as part of their coverage of the case.
After his father was killed, Joseph Azzaretto told his mom he didn’t want to be like his dad, a family friend said.
“After his dad died, he told her he wanted to see a psychiatrist so he wouldn’t be like his father,” a family friend who wanted to be named only as Richard, 71, told the Daily News in an exclusive interview. “Joe told her he was looking to go to therapy because he didn’t want to have the same anger issues his dad had.”
It’s not clear if Joseph Azzaretto ever made it to a therapist’s couch. But he went on to commit the ultimate act of domestic violence, and then paid the same price as his turbulent dad.
Only, in this case, Joseph Azzaretto killed himself.
About six hours after first responders found Golding, a film industry set director, dead in the apartment on 41st. St. near 19th Ave. with a knife sticking out of her back, Joseph Azzaretto was found hanged in an apparent suicide two miles away in Astoria Park, police said.
Their 11-month-old son was found unharmed in the apartment. It was unclear what he witnessed, if anything. Neighbors said he was later taken away by the victim’s parents.
Video viewed by The News shows Joseph Azzaretto outside the apartment building, talking on his cell phone before getting into a car and driving off shortly before his wife’s body was discovered.
Neighbors said Joseph Azzaretto had only moved into the basement apartment with his wife a couple of months ago, just long enough for him to earn a reputation as a neighborhood hothead.
“Joe was a typical kid,” Richard said of the killer. “Frank Sr. used to take Joe out on his motorcycle. I would never have guessed Joe would turn into what he turned into.”
He also never would have guessed what would happen with Azzaretto’s brother, Nicholas. According to reports and court testimony, Nicholas grabbed a shotgun and intervened during a violent argument between his parents in their Stroudsburg, Penn., home.
Upon returning home from his union movie production job in the Bronx on Feb. 13, 2020, Frank Azzaretto began arguing with his wife about a phone bill and at one point shoved her, according to a WFMZ-TV report.
“How come I’m paying the Sprint bill?” Azzaretto asked his wife. “You’re playing f—ing games again,” she recalled to authorities her husband saying that night, according to the Pocono Record. Frank threw plants and pictures as the fight escalated, she told authorities.
When Nicholas heard the commotion, he came upstairs from his basement bedroom and attempted to calm his father down.
“What’s he screaming about?” he asked his mother. “I really don’t know,” she said she told her son, the Pocono Record reported.
Frank, 58, told Nicholas to go back to his room and pushed him into the basement when he refused, according to court records. Still irate, Frank began smashing items in their kitchen.
Nicholas then returned from his room with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot his father in the chest, court records say. Nicholas and his mother called 911 for help and Frank later died at the hospital.
Defense attorney James Swetz, who repped Nicholas, argued in court his client shouldn’t be in jail “in light of the abuse this family suffered.”
“This case is a tragedy. This case is not a murder case,” Swetz told the judge, the Pocono Record said.
The youngest of four siblings, Nicholas pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in November 2021, according to court records. He was sentenced to 10 years of probation.
Richard said he was sad to see the cycle of violence continue, especially because Joseph’s mother was excited when her son met the victim. She “raved about (Golding) when they got together,” Richard said.
“I feel the worst for the young woman’s family,” he said of Golding. “I’m disgusted at what happened to her.”
With Emma Seiwell