A Queens dad suspected of killing his wife in a gruesome murder-suicide came from a family with a dark, violent past — with his brother fatally shooting their father half a decade ago, The Post can reveal.
Joseph Azzaretto, 33, was found hanging from a tree in Astoria Park early Tuesday, hours after he allegedly stabbed Mary Kate Golding, 34, to death in their nearby home, police and sources said.
The still-under-investigation potential murder-suicide came six years after Azzaretto’s younger brother Nicholas Azzaretto stood accused of slaughtering another family member.
During a heated argument in February 2020 inside the family’s Monroe County, Pennsylvania, home, then-20-year-old Nicholas Azzaretto picked up a shotgun and blasted his father Frank Azzaretto in the chest, killing him.
The younger Azzaretto brother faced charges of third-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, but revelations quickly surfaced that showed it wasn’t a cold-blooded crime.
A dramatic court hearing later that month revealed that Frank Azzaretto had a history of abusive behavior, the Pocono Record reported.
The 58-year-old Azzaretto patriarch allegedly came home on Feb. 13, 2020 from his movie production job in The Bronx and blew up at his wife over a telephone bill, according to the report.
He angrily paced around the home, threw plants and pictures and threatened to punch his wife, the report stated.
“You’re playing f—ing games again,” he thundered at his wife, according to the report.
Nicholas Azzaretto allegedly emerged from his basement bedroom amid the chaos, asking “What’s he screaming about?”
“I really don’t know,” his mother said she told him, according to the report.
The young man later returned from his bedroom with a 12-gauge shotgun, leading to the fatal shooting, the Pocono Record reported.
Court records show that Nicholas Azzaretto eventually pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in November 2021.
He received 10 years of probation, of which two years would be under electronic monitoring, the records show.
His older brother Joseph Azzaretto and Golding had moved to Astoria from Pennsylvania about two months ago, neighbors said.
Azzaretto, among other disturbing alleged incidents during his short time in Queens, had once physically fought repo men over his car, a nearby worker told The Post.
“He was mentally disturbed. We knew that since he got here,” the worker said Tuesday.
Golding studied at NYU and was working as an assistant set decorator for shows like the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Goosebumps at the time of her death, according to her IMDB page and other online profiles.
Azzaretto also worked in the film industry, a neighbor, who requested anonymity, said.
A Golding family member declined to comment.
— Additional reporting by Jordan Donegan
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