Killer staged her 'suicide'
Suspect confesses after cops find footprint in victim's tub
The life of actress Adrienne Shelly, who gained critical fame for her role in 'Trust,' was cut short last week when she was found dead in West Village office.
Actress Adrienne Shelly's hanging death in her West Village office bathroom looked like suicide. It turned out to be murder.
The stunning whodunit was cracked yesterday after cops linked a bathtub sneaker print to a teen construction worker who allegedly snapped when Shelly made a noise complaint last week, sources said.
Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old illegal immigrant who had been renovating the apartment below Shelly's office, told cops in a chilling confession that he was afraid of getting arrested and deported, sources said.
So he followed the 40-year-old married mom of a toddler into her apartment and knocked her unconscious, sources said.
Pillco told police he panicked and staged a suicide - using a bedsheet to string up the petite actress by her neck from a shower curtain rod, sources said.
He was ultimately done in by a Reebok sneaker print he allegedly left in the native New Yorker's bathtub, sources said.
His arrest yesterday came as a relief to Shelly's loved ones, who refused to believe the well-regarded indie actress and director would take her own life.
