Saturday’s episode of “48 Hours” will cover the killing of Aliquippa school teacher Rachael DelTondo, whose 2018 shooting death remains unsolved a year later.
The episode of the investigative series, titled “What Happened to Rachael?” will air at 10 p.m. May 18 on CBS and feature correspondent Erin Moriarty.
DelTondo was gunned down in her parents’ driveway May 13, 2018, minutes after she was dropped off by Lauren Watkins, a friend and the teenage daughter of Aliquippa police Sgt. Kenneth Watkins. At least 10 shots were fired at close range, police have said.
In a trailer for the episode, DelTondo’s mother, Lisa DelTondo, tells Moriarty that her daughter was afraid of the police.
“She said, ‘They’re following me, Ma,’” she says in the video clip.
Tumult has plagued the police department in the year since the murder.
Watkins was placed on leave because of his close relationship to DelTondo’s family.
Chief Donald Couch was placed on leave in June for unspecified reasons, and two days later the officer named to replace him on an interim basis, Assistant Chief Joseph Perciavalle III, was arrested and accused of sending lewd text messages to a group that included the then-underage Lauren Watkins.
Questions remain a year after a teacher is murdered.@EFMoriarty investigates Saturday, 10/9c. https://t.co/eQujEXLlaU pic.twitter.com/2fpfLzzgHb
— 48 Hours (@48hours) May 15, 2019
In the video clip, Moriarty asks Perciavalle if he thinks someone in the police department could have been involved in the murder.
“You just never know,” Perciavalle responds. “Aliquippa is a small community with New York problems.”
Some of those suspects have come to light in search warrants filed in the weeks after DelTondo’s killing, including Sheldon Jeter, whose attorney appears in the video clip.
“I think it’s fair to say that he’s a suspect,” Michael Santicola says. “But there is a cast of characters, all that could be considered suspects.”
