Manchester woman admits killing roommate with shower curtain rod and tape dispenser

TOMS RIVER - A 60-year-old Manchester woman pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated manslaughter, admitting she fatally attacked her roommate and occasional lover by turning a shower curtain rod, tape dispenser and other household items into weapons during a fight in their home in 2020,

Mary Carbone was scheduled to go on trial next week in the 2020 murder of 55-year-old Frank Sochel and was expected to present a defense of battered woman's syndrome.

Instead, she accepted a plea bargain in which she was promised a 10-year prison term, the minimum for aggravated manslaughter and 20 years less than the minimum term for murder.

When Ryan asked Carbone if she wished to forgo the trial and abandon her battered woman's defense, the defendant, wiping a tear from her eye, responded, "It still happened, but, yes."

More court news: Naomi Elkins, accused of killing her kids, faces psychiatric exam before detention hearing

Carbone can be considered for release on parole after serving 85% of the prison term, or 8½ years, under the state's No Early Release Act.

With credit for time she has already served in the Ocean County Jail awaiting trial since her arrest in March 2020 , she will have already served half of the 8½ years by the time Ryan sentences her on Sept. 13, the judge noted.

Carbone was expected to plead guilty last week, but at that time, she asked for more time to consider the state's offer, presented by Meghan O'Neill and Victoria Veni, assistant Ocean County prosecutors.

At Monday's plea hearing, Carbone answered affirmatively when her attorney, Paul Zager, asked her if she had resided at a home on Sixth Avenue in Manchester with Sochel, who was her landlord and, "in the beginning, a friend with benefits.''

She also acknowledged that her relationship with Sochel deteriorated into one of domestic violence, resulting in 58 phone calls made to the Manchester police in the span of nine months, some to report domestic violence.

More court news: Wall High School teacher arrested on charges of sex with student

'A hot and heavy fight'

Still responding to questions from Zager, Carbone acknowledged that on the night of Feb. 23, 2020, Sochel came into her bedroom uninvited by breaking down the door amd knocked over her television, resulting in what Zager described as "a hot and heavy fight.''

She also acknowledged that during the fight, she used common household instruments, such as a shower curtain rod and tape dispenser, as weapons against Sochel.

When Zager asked his client if she was aware that Sochel was unconscious on the floor, Carbone at first said she was unaware of that, and then she said, "Yes, but he's done that a lot of times, not from any injuries, but drinking."

Zager asked Carbone if, when she realized Sochel was unconscious, she called 911.

"I didn't have a phone," she replied.

She also conceded she didn't go to a neighbor's house to ask for assistance or take Sochel to the hospital.

"I had no means to take him to the hospital," she said.

"You inflicted injuries on him with a variety of instruments in the home?" O'Neill asked the defendant, who replied affirmatively.

"You killed Frank Sochel, correct?" O'Neill asked.

"Yes," replied Carbone.

More court news: Manchester man admits arson, spray-painting swastikas in antisemitic crime spree

Carbone acknowledged that by inflicting the injuries and not seeking help for the victim, she demonstrated extreme indifference to the value of human life.

Only when a health officer went to the home to perform a welfare check on Sochel on Feb. 24, 2020, was the victim's body was discovered.

Blood on the walls, mace in the victim's hand

At Carbone's detention hearing in March 2020 , O'Neill said the health officer walked into a horrific scene and found blood on the walls and carpet in the home and one of the weapons, the shower curtain rod, which had Carbone's fingerprint on it. She said at the hearing that the medical examiner who conducted Sochel's autopsy opined that he suffered a prolonged period of torture.

Zager at the 2020 hearing said Sochel, when his body was discovered, had in his hand a medieval mace, an implement devised of a piece of wood with a chain and ball with spikes attached to it, which he said supported a theory that Carbone was defending herself.

More on the Manchester murder: Victim was facedown with a ‘medieval-style mace’ under his hand

Authorities allege that in addition to beating Sochel with various household items, she also tried to strangle him with a piece of wood.

O'Neill last week said the plea offer was extended to Carbone after an expert for the state agreed with some of the conclusions of a defense expert who evaluated the defendant for battered women's syndrome.

"Although Mary Carbone was originally facing a murder charge in connection with Mr. Sochel's death, legitimate proof issues arose during the course of our investigation that we simply could not ignore, and which we were ethically bound to take into account in evaluating this very difficult case,'' Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a news release.

"We believe this to be a just and reasonable resolution after careful consideration of all the facts and circumstances,'' Billhimer said. "Additionally, Mr. Sochel's family was consulted in connection with this resolution, and approved of same.''

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues, unsolved mysteries and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com; 732-643-4202.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Manchester woman admits killing roommate with shower curtain rod and tape dispenser