Kriti Mehrotra
Marilyn Jefferies Reza was killed inside her own suburban home in Bayport, New York, on December 12, 1990. Decades later, her case remains relevant as it highlights the devastating reality of domestic violence. The devoted 47-year-old mother of two was killed at the hands of someone she trusted completely, someone who ultimately betrayed her trust in the most tragic way. Investigation Discovery’s ‘Betrayed: Prescription for Murder’ chronicles this matter in detail, shining a clear light upon precisely what transpired and how justice was ultimately served.
Marilyn Reza Devoted Herself to Her Career and Family
Josephine Garfield Jefferies and Robert Samuel Jefferies welcomed Marilyn Jefferies Reza into this world on November 7, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was essentially a farm girl, having been raised in a rather rural area alongside all 6 of her siblings: Robert Jr., William, Lewis, Richard, Linda, and Nancy Jefferies. The big, happy family reportedly shared a tight-knit bond that endured through thick and thin, fostering a sense of unwavering confidence and self-worth among all the young ones.
Marilyn had the courage to follow her dreams and enroll at Columbia University immediately upon graduating from high school to pursue a degree in nursing. Little did she know that’s where she’d also come across her future husband, Robert “Bob” Reza, with whom she happily tied the knot in a beautifully cozy ceremony sometime in 1968. The couple subsequently settled down in Bayport, New York, with her gradually evolving into a homemaker and the proud mother of their 2 daughters, Elizabeth and Kristyn. They reportedly led almost idyllic lives, even devoting themselves to the local New Life Community Church, while Bob established himself as a pulmonary specialist.
Marilyn Reza Was Shot Before Being Strangled to Death
The Rezas were truly well-respected members of society, which is just part of why everyone was left absolutely baffled when Marilyn was found murdered on December 12, 1990. Then-16-year-old Kristyn had fallen so ill at the time that her boarding school called the family, only to ultimately get in touch with their emergency contact because they failed to respond. This contact was a neighbor who was a detective at the Suffolk County Police Department, so he figured it would be best to visit the household to see if everything was okay. That’s when the 47-year-old was discovered brutally murdered in her bed — it was ascertained she had been home alone the previous night and was attacked as she slept.
Marilyn’s autopsy report later confirmed she was shot in her right eye at close range with a .22 caliber weapon before being strangled to death with a man’s neck tie. As per records, it appeared as if she had awoken from the bullet wound and was fighting for her life when her killer went one step further by deciding to asphyxiate her. Her manner of death was hence classified as a homicide, with officials quickly hypothesizing that the matter was not a robbery gone wrong but actually very personal.
Marilyn Reza’s Killer Was Apprehended Within Two Weeks
When authorities arrived at the scene after the 911 call from Marilyn’s neighbor, one of the first things they noticed was that it seemed her bedroom had been ransacked. The detective already there also reported the house’s front door was slightly ajar when he came in, but there were no additional signs of a potential break-in or a struggle. Therefore, with the way the married mother of 2 was killed and how there was nothing actually missing from the household, they theorized the scene had been staged.
Investigators then learned Marilyn had been home alone because while her daughters were at school or college, Bob had left to attend a medical conference in Washington on December 10. According to records, he immediately rushed home upon hearing the news of his wife’s demise and appeared genuinely shattered while speaking to investigators later in the day. There was a point he even broke down in tears while wondering how he would tell their young daughters – 19-year-old Elizabeth and 16-year-old Kristyn – what really happened. He did give detectives his alibi when asked, detailing when he left home, his flight numbers, and the Washington hotel bookings, before also naming whom he suspected of the heinous crime.
While Bob didn’t explicitly provide a reason for why he claimed to believe a fellow church member would have wanted to kill his wife, he named a recently single Salvatore Senese. Salvatore was subsequently questioned, only for him to point the finger back at Bob after alleging the doctor was having an affair with his wife, Kathy Senese, who’d recently separated from him. The church counselor Marilyn had been seeing for a while corroborated that the Rezas had been having marital issues for a few years, whereas Kathy herself also admitted to the illicit relationship. That’s when officials began looking into the pulmonologist’s alibi and realized he had returned to New York for a few hours on the night of December 11/12, resulting in his arrest.
Robert “Bob” Reza Died While Incarcerated in a New York Prison in 2012
When investigators began looking into Bob, they uncovered that he had been a bit of a ladies’ man since at least the mid-1980s, as he got involved in 2 known extramarital affairs. He shared a life with his wife – they lived in the same home, Marilyn worked as a nurse at his office, and they attended church together – yet he still managed to maintain bonds with other women. According to records, he was in a 2½ year relationship with fellow church member Dora Gaeta before breaking up with her when she began discussing a potential future with him. Then, in June 1990, he began seeing church organist Kathy Senese, who eventually left her husband because her boyfriend told her he was planning to leave his wife and had already consulted a divorce lawyer.
It turned out Bob had never contacted any divorce attorney; instead, he purchased a .22-caliber rifle in November 1990 despite having had no history of being passionate about or owning such firearms. Then, through his flight details, airport surveillance footage, and hotel records, detectives uncovered a 4 or 5-hour window during which he was in New York (not Washington) on the fateful night. Therefore, in mid-December, he was arrested in connection with the murder of his wife of 22 years, Marilyn Rza, following which he was held on a $5 million bond at Suffolk County jail.
Kathy then came forward to reveal additional details about her affair with Bob, going as far as to assert her belief that he killed Marilyn because of their intimate involvement. She even claimed he once told her, “If anything should happen to Marilyn, don’t feel guilty. I may look distraught, but I won’t be.” In the end, the doctor stood trial for the charge against him, which culminated in the jury rejecting his temporary insanity defense and finding him guilty of second-degree murder on October 3, 1992. A month later, on November 4, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Therefore, he was still incarcerated at the multi-security Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, New York, when he passed away nearly two decades later on August 26, 2012. He was 68 at the time, and his cause of death was determined to be natural.
