Former Penn Basketball Player Allegedly Stabbed To Death By Wife
MEDIA, Pa. (CBS) – The wife of a former University of Pennsylvania basketball player has been charged with his death.
According to police, 53-year-old Matthew White, who played for Penn's basketball team in the late '70s, was stabbed to death inside his Media home on Monday.
Police in Delaware County say they were dispatched to the home, located at 810 Parkridge Drive, at about 12:44 p.m. for reports of a possible stabbing.
One of the officers encountered the suspect, Maria Rey Garcia-Pellon, as she was pulling into her driveway. While Garcia-Pellon was being arrested, she reportedly told officers, "I caught [White] looking at pornography -– young girls. I love kids, I had to do it."
When police entered the house, they discovered a male in bed with obvious signs of trauma, including a stab wound to the neck. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at 1:01 p.m.
Garcia-Pellon was taken into custody, where she was questioned by Nether Providence police. She allegedly stated that between midnight and 1 a.m., she left her bedroom and went into the kitchen inside her house, where she had a glass of water and procured two knives. She then returned to the bedroom, concealing the knives underneath her side of the bed. When the victim, identified as Garcia-Pellon's husband Matthew White, had fallen asleep, she stabbed him in the neck. White awoke and began to struggle with Garcia-Pellon for control of the knives before stating, "I'm dying, I'm dying," and collapsing on the bed.
Garcia-Pellon said she then changed clothes and left the home.
Police also interviewed a neighbor of the couple, who stated that just before 12:45 p.m. on Feb. 11th, Garcia-Pellon arrived at her house and told her that her husband had been watching child porn on his computer, and she'd stabbed him. The neighbor then called police.
Maria Rey Garcia-Pellon has been charged with first-degree murder. She is being held at Delaware County Jail.
