Death At The Hand Of Her Father -- Family Defends Man In Killing Of Disturbed Daughter

BENSALEM, Pa. - It was not unusual for Carol DiGregorio to sleep through the day and roam the house from dusk until dawn.

Often she would scrawl obscene messages on the walls of the Bensalem apartment she shared with her father, John DiGregorio. At times she would talk to herself in the bathroom mirror, laughing almost hysterically until her voice gave out.

She would provoke violent quarrels with her father by jamming the garbage disposal with spoons or newspapers, forcing him to repair it.

And it was after one of those quarrels on Easter, family members say, that John DiGregorio, 61, apparently killed his 38-year-old daughter with a tire iron and a disposal-repair tool and dismembered her. Police said that when they went to his apartment early Tuesday morning to arrest him, they found the corpse hacked into about 50 parts.

Yesterday, family members, including Carol's mother, Rose Mezzi, and Carol's only sister, Angel DeChurch, told how John DiGregorio had sacrificed his own happiness for the past eight years to care for his mentally ill daughter.

And they do not blame John DiGregorio for the slaying, which he told police happened after his daughter came at him with a knife.

DiGregorio, they say, had cooked, cleaned and cared for Carol each day only to be berated and teased for it by a daughter who seemed to resent his very presence.

DiGregorio cared for Carol alone after he and Mezzi divorced years ago because Mezzi found it too difficult, DeChurch said.

Carol ``wouldn't leave the house,'' DeChurch said, ``and sometimes when I talked to her, she thought she was the Virgin Mary. Other times she thought people were trying to kill her.

``My father lived a living hell. No one can imagine,'' said DeChurch, sobbing as she told the story.

DeChurch's husband, Daniel, said family members would do all they could to help John DiGregorio now. It was Daniel DeChurch who telephoned police to report the killing after listening to his father-in-law's confession of the crime Monday night at the DeChurches' home.

``He doesn't belong in jail. He had a terrible situation he was going through,'' said Daniel DeChurch.

Carol DiGregorio moved into her father's Colonial Park apartment in 1983 after her divorce from Louis Schwartzkopf, a New Jersey state trooper, family members said.

She first began to show evidence of mental illness at age 15, when she attempted suicide while living in Cinnaminson, family members said, and with each year, the problems grew worse.

Her 11-year marriage was fraught with domestic disturbances, especially after the birth of her son, Gregory, in 1977.

Police were called to the couple's Medford home several times to quell domestic disputes during those years, Angel DeChurch said.

In 1982, Schwartzkopf filed for divorce and gained custody of Gregory. He also obtained a restraining order preventing Carol from having unsupervised visits with the child. Finally all visitation ceased, Angel DeChurch said.

After the divorce, Carol spent time in numerous mental hospitals, including Norristown State, Rancocas Hospital in Willingboro, a hospital in Bensalem, and Ancora in Winslow Township.

She was diagnosed as schizophrenic and attended mental-health clinics when she was not hospitalized. However, Carol became more reclusive as time went on and it was becoming increasingly difficult to force her to get dressed and leave the house, Angel DeChurch said.

On Easter morning, she said, John DiGregorio tried to persuade Carol to shower and dress so they could go to a restaurant to celebrate the holiday.

Instead, the day was spent feuding about various things, as best as family members can determine, and ended with the final quarrel over the garbage disposal.

``My sister was absolutely crazy,'' DeChurch said. ``And she drove my father crazy.''