MATTINOW, Damoign--The close-knit arts community in Mattinow is mourning the loss of a gifted musician.
Celia Anderson, 62, who played viola in the Mattinow Symphony, was found murdered over the weekend in her suburban Mattinow home.
Police in Randstable, an affluent suburb 10 miles southeast of Mattinow, were called to the home, which lies in a gated community, at 11:57 am Eastern time on Sunday.
A friend became concerned when Anderson did not respond to repeated calls and text messages.
That same friend then drove to Anderson's home and found the victim lying deceased on the dining room floor.
Police are tentatively saying the cause of death was multiple stab wounds, although blunt force trauma and strangulation may have also occurred.
A medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death Wednesday.
Initially, investigators were at a loss identifying possible suspects, as the victim was a beloved musician and upstanding citizen in Mattinow, and had no known enemies.
But upon examining the victim's cell phone and computer, investigators learned that Celia Anderson was actively socializing with men on the dating website eharmony.com.
And police noticed Anderson was also having a relationship with fellow symphony musician, 59-year-old cellist Anthony Zarcoti.
According to police, Anderson and Zarcoti had been dating on-and-off for over two years, and maintained a serious but often strained relationship.
Authorities immediately brought Zarcoti in for questioning. During an eight-hour-long interrogation session, Zarcoti admitted having a romantic relationship with the victim. He also confirmed their relationship was fraught with fighting and arguments, and that the two often "took a break" from seeing each other.
Most shockingly, Zarcoti told police he was at Anderson's home Saturday night before her death.
The two were sharing an "intimate evening" at Anderson's house, he said, which included watching TV, dinner and wine, and sex.
But toward the end of the night, Zarcoti said he and Celia Anderson got in an argument. Money was the subject that triggered the fight, he told police, but the conversation quickly turned to Celia's dating of other men.
Police believe the victim told Zarcoti she was dating other men, which enraged him. They believe he then used a kitchen knife to inflict multiple stab wounds on the victim.
"Anthony Zarcoti has acknowledged that he was at the victim's home on Saturday night. So logically, he is our prime suspect," Randstable Police Chief Ken Emerill told local media at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
"Furthermore, he has acknowledged that the two of them engaged in a heated argument. That presents a very clear motive and likely was what set Mr Zarcoti off and what triggered him to attack the victim," said Emerill.
Zarcoti has already hired a defense lawyer, Tom Raben, who told the Mattinow Aurora newspaper his client did engage in a verbal argument with the victim the night before she was found murdered, but the argument never turned violent.
"Anthony has been very forthright and forthcoming with the police. He told them openly and honestly that he went over to Celia's house on Saturday night. They had a romantic dinner, some wine, watched television, and had intimate relations with each other. They then began talking and money came up, which started an argument. The subject of Celia's dating life did come up also, which no doubt made Anthony uncomfortable and brought up a lot of emotions for him, and the two had a long discussion about it.
"At no point did this conversation turn violent. Anthony already knew Celia was dating other men. They'd already talked about it, so this was no news to him. But it was a sore subject that he didn't like to talk about. He didn't like hearing about her talking to other men. So he became upset, Celia became upset. And he decided to leave to cool off and diffuse the situation. So he left her house and drove home.
"When he left the home Saturday night, Celia Anderson was alive and well. End of story," said Raben. "She may have been upset emotionally, but she was not physically harmed or ill."
Zarcoti has told investigators he left Celia Anderson's home around 9:30 pm Saturday night.
Police have interviewed neighbors and are examining footage from security cameras to validate Mr Zarcoti's claims, although they believe he is responsible for her death.
"It's very hard for us to imagine another suspect, when we have a man that was having an ongoing, serious relationship with the victim. He was there the night of the murder, he acknowledges getting in a heated argument with the victim. We know he was there, we know he had motive, and we know this was a very violent crime. This was not the type of crime we see in a break-in or home invasion. This was a crime of passion, that happened in the heat of the moment. The person who did this had very serious feelings about the victim and that's very evident in the severity of the wounds the victim suffered," said Chief Emerill.
When asked if police overlooked other possible suspects, the chief gave an emphatic 'no.'
"We approached this with an open mind, objectively, like we always do for any homicide. We know there are a variety of potential suspects, and we looked into those leads. But in this case, the trail has very conclusively led to Mr. Zarcoti. It has happened very quickly, yes I will admit that. But we are extremely confident we have our guy. The evidence is pretty mounting," said Emerill.
Zarcoti was initially released after questioning by police, but he was arrested late Tuesday evening at his Mattinow home without incident.
He is no longer speaking to police, according to his lawyer.
Zarcoti will face a judge Thursday morning.
Everingham County Deputy District Attorney Eric Watson says Zarcoti will be charged with second-degree murder and possibly mutilation, because of the severity of the wounds inflicted on the victim.
Watson told the Aurora in a phone interview Tuesday night that second-degree murder charges are being pursued because police do not believe Zarcoti planned the murder. They believe it was a spontaneous crime committed in-the-heat-of-the-moment rather than a pre-meditated plot.
The victim's family has not spoken to the media and has asked for privacy.
Zarcoti's family has also declined to speak to the media.
Meanwhile, the Mattinow Symphony has released a statement on its Facebook page and website, calling Anderson's death "unimaginably tragic."
"We here at the Mattinow Symphony are so deeply grieved by the loss of our dear friend and colleague Celia Anderson. Celia was a gifted musician and wonderful person, whose warmth, kindness, intelligence, talent and love for others could be seen in everything she did."
The statement went on to say, "We are at a loss for words at the violent manner of her death. We are shocked and hurt beyond belief to learn another one of our employees may be responsible for Celia's death. We will never understand why this happened, but we join the community in seeking answers and finding justice for Celia."
In light of the tragedy, the symphony has cancelled events that were scheduled for this upcoming weekend.
The conductor of the symphony, Ma Hong Hun, told the Aurora the symphony will reconvene its regular schedule next week.
Celia Anderson, 62, who played viola in the Mattinow Symphony, was found murdered over the weekend in her suburban Mattinow home.
Police in Randstable, an affluent suburb 10 miles southeast of Mattinow, were called to the home, which lies in a gated community, at 11:57 am Eastern time on Sunday.
A friend became concerned when Anderson did not respond to repeated calls and text messages.
That same friend then drove to Anderson's home and found the victim lying deceased on the dining room floor.
Police are tentatively saying the cause of death was multiple stab wounds, although blunt force trauma and strangulation may have also occurred.
A medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death Wednesday.
Initially, investigators were at a loss identifying possible suspects, as the victim was a beloved musician and upstanding citizen in Mattinow, and had no known enemies.
But upon examining the victim's cell phone and computer, investigators learned that Celia Anderson was actively socializing with men on the dating website eharmony.com.
And police noticed Anderson was also having a relationship with fellow symphony musician, 59-year-old cellist Anthony Zarcoti.
According to police, Anderson and Zarcoti had been dating on-and-off for over two years, and maintained a serious but often strained relationship.
Authorities immediately brought Zarcoti in for questioning. During an eight-hour-long interrogation session, Zarcoti admitted having a romantic relationship with the victim. He also confirmed their relationship was fraught with fighting and arguments, and that the two often "took a break" from seeing each other.
Most shockingly, Zarcoti told police he was at Anderson's home Saturday night before her death.
The two were sharing an "intimate evening" at Anderson's house, he said, which included watching TV, dinner and wine, and sex.
But toward the end of the night, Zarcoti said he and Celia Anderson got in an argument. Money was the subject that triggered the fight, he told police, but the conversation quickly turned to Celia's dating of other men.
Police believe the victim told Zarcoti she was dating other men, which enraged him. They believe he then used a kitchen knife to inflict multiple stab wounds on the victim.
"Anthony Zarcoti has acknowledged that he was at the victim's home on Saturday night. So logically, he is our prime suspect," Randstable Police Chief Ken Emerill told local media at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
"Furthermore, he has acknowledged that the two of them engaged in a heated argument. That presents a very clear motive and likely was what set Mr Zarcoti off and what triggered him to attack the victim," said Emerill.
Zarcoti has already hired a defense lawyer, Tom Raben, who told the Mattinow Aurora newspaper his client did engage in a verbal argument with the victim the night before she was found murdered, but the argument never turned violent.
"Anthony has been very forthright and forthcoming with the police. He told them openly and honestly that he went over to Celia's house on Saturday night. They had a romantic dinner, some wine, watched television, and had intimate relations with each other. They then began talking and money came up, which started an argument. The subject of Celia's dating life did come up also, which no doubt made Anthony uncomfortable and brought up a lot of emotions for him, and the two had a long discussion about it.
"At no point did this conversation turn violent. Anthony already knew Celia was dating other men. They'd already talked about it, so this was no news to him. But it was a sore subject that he didn't like to talk about. He didn't like hearing about her talking to other men. So he became upset, Celia became upset. And he decided to leave to cool off and diffuse the situation. So he left her house and drove home.
"When he left the home Saturday night, Celia Anderson was alive and well. End of story," said Raben. "She may have been upset emotionally, but she was not physically harmed or ill."
Zarcoti has told investigators he left Celia Anderson's home around 9:30 pm Saturday night.
Police have interviewed neighbors and are examining footage from security cameras to validate Mr Zarcoti's claims, although they believe he is responsible for her death.
"It's very hard for us to imagine another suspect, when we have a man that was having an ongoing, serious relationship with the victim. He was there the night of the murder, he acknowledges getting in a heated argument with the victim. We know he was there, we know he had motive, and we know this was a very violent crime. This was not the type of crime we see in a break-in or home invasion. This was a crime of passion, that happened in the heat of the moment. The person who did this had very serious feelings about the victim and that's very evident in the severity of the wounds the victim suffered," said Chief Emerill.
When asked if police overlooked other possible suspects, the chief gave an emphatic 'no.'
"We approached this with an open mind, objectively, like we always do for any homicide. We know there are a variety of potential suspects, and we looked into those leads. But in this case, the trail has very conclusively led to Mr. Zarcoti. It has happened very quickly, yes I will admit that. But we are extremely confident we have our guy. The evidence is pretty mounting," said Emerill.
Zarcoti was initially released after questioning by police, but he was arrested late Tuesday evening at his Mattinow home without incident.
He is no longer speaking to police, according to his lawyer.
Zarcoti will face a judge Thursday morning.
Everingham County Deputy District Attorney Eric Watson says Zarcoti will be charged with second-degree murder and possibly mutilation, because of the severity of the wounds inflicted on the victim.
Watson told the Aurora in a phone interview Tuesday night that second-degree murder charges are being pursued because police do not believe Zarcoti planned the murder. They believe it was a spontaneous crime committed in-the-heat-of-the-moment rather than a pre-meditated plot.
The victim's family has not spoken to the media and has asked for privacy.
Zarcoti's family has also declined to speak to the media.
Meanwhile, the Mattinow Symphony has released a statement on its Facebook page and website, calling Anderson's death "unimaginably tragic."
"We here at the Mattinow Symphony are so deeply grieved by the loss of our dear friend and colleague Celia Anderson. Celia was a gifted musician and wonderful person, whose warmth, kindness, intelligence, talent and love for others could be seen in everything she did."
The statement went on to say, "We are at a loss for words at the violent manner of her death. We are shocked and hurt beyond belief to learn another one of our employees may be responsible for Celia's death. We will never understand why this happened, but we join the community in seeking answers and finding justice for Celia."
In light of the tragedy, the symphony has cancelled events that were scheduled for this upcoming weekend.
The conductor of the symphony, Ma Hong Hun, told the Aurora the symphony will reconvene its regular schedule next week.
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