Woman Gets 25 Years To Life For Murdering Aquebogue Man For House: DA

AQUEBOGUE, NY — A Central Islip woman was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Thursday after she was found guilty of killing an Aquebogue man in his home in March, 2020, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

Donatila O’Mahony, 42, was also sentenced to a consecutive prison term of two-and-one-third to seven years in prison for possessing a forged version of the victim’s will in an attempt to steal one of the homes he owned, Tierney said.

At the sentencing, O'Mahony, her young daughter in the courtroom, stood before Judge Timothy Mazzei and fervently said how much she'd cared for Pedersen and insisted that she was not guilty.

"That's a very heartfelt speech," Mazzei said. "You have successfully manipulated a lot of men since you came to the United States of America, but you're not going to manipulate this man."

Also at the sentencing, victims' statements were read. The first was from Jean Bedeian — the original and true friend intended to inherit the Lynbrook home, prosecutors explained — who said her sister had dated Pedersen for 35 years. She spoke about his long white ponytail, his shorts and white socks with work boots. Pedersen, she said, loved Disney and food, "food was a big piece of his life," as well as engine shows.

With photos of Pedersen displayed in the courtroom, Bedeian spoke of how well-loved Pedersen was in Lynbrook, where he had his other home. He was friends with the neighbors and would share stories in the driveway, she said.

"Lee was always smiling and will truly will be missed every day," she said. Of the sentencing, she added: "Justice has been served — and now we can begin to find closure."

A statement from Tracy Flack, the daughter of the woman Pedersen dated for decades, was also read. Flack was sobbing outside the courtroom.

Pedersen, she wrote, was the man who raised her as her own father from the time she was 3 until her own mother died. "He taught me to ride a bike, he gave me away at my wedding, he held my hand when we removed my mother from life support," she said. Even after her mother's death, Pedersen still took her grandmother out to lunch.

"He taught me how to make meat loaf and put $1 in the car in case of an emergency," Flack wrote. "When she murdered Lee, she took him from his friends and family, from me and my grandmother, who has already lost two children."

Since his death, Flack said, "My life has been hell."

Pedersen was murdered in the craft room, the room that had once been hers, Flack said, adding, that it was her "safe place," the spot where she played Barbies. Her sense of safety and security was destroyed, she said.

Also, Flack said, O'Mahony took her mother's quilts and other crafts. Since Pedersen's death, Flack said she's suffered with anxiety. Of Pedersen, she said, "He did not deserve to die. He deserves more time to be at engine shows and to take my grandmother to lunch, to eat pizza with his friends in Lynbrook, and to send pictures to me via text on his antiquated cell phone."

Speaking at the sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder said O'Mahony's actions were "outrageously evil, atrocious, wicked, abominable, and totally reprehensible. Her conduct was heinous."

O'Mahony, he said, "murdered one man and tried to blame the murder on another man."

O'Mahony, he added, came to the United States from El Salvador and worked as a stripper in New York City. "Men used her, but she learned how to use men," he said. Of George Woodworth, who O'Mahony tried to blame for the murder, Schroeder said she gave him a "little sex" and he testified to giving her $75,000; Pedersen also left his Lynbrook home to her in his will.

"Lee did not get what he deserved," Schroeder said, adding that he'd only treated O'Mahony with kindness. "She was calculating and cunning. She befriended him, saying that her husband had died. Lee felt sad for her and her daughter. He made a fatal error — he made her the beneficiary in his will, and he sealed his fate. That's what makes it so heinous."

Schroeder added: "This was a planned execution of this man to steal his property." He said he could only hope that Pedersen "didn't know what hit him. I hope he wasn't led to that craft room at gunpoint, hope he didn't know he had been completely deceived."

Pedersen, Schroeder said, "was a good guy. He tried to help people in this world. He tried to help the defendant and her little daughter — and this is how she repaid him."

Her attorney Weissman said he was "disappointed by the jury's verdict" after the case had been tried twice, and would appeal. He also said that while he felt for those whose lives were impacted by Pedersen's death, O'Mahony's daughter, who did nothing wrong, would "essentially grow up without a mother."

Speaking to the judge, O'Mahony said in 2017, she lost her husband and father, both to heart attacks; her brother died in a motorcycle accident that same year, and she also lost a friend.

She and Pedersen became close over their shared grief, she said. The two became "inseparable," she said. "His friendship saved me. He saw me crying and never judged me. No pity — he understood because he was trying to get through it, too."

Pedersen took her to engine shows across the United States in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, she said. "He didn't let me self-destruct," she said. "He was honest, smart, a protector. He was one of the best friends I ever had. Losing him, for me and my daughter, was very hard. . . Lee in my life was irreplaceable."

Of the forgery, she said there was "no excuse. It was stupid and criminal. I embarrassed myself and my family."

She maintained that she did not kill Pedersen.

O'Mahony said she wanted to apologize to the people she hurt.

To her daughter, she said, "I love you so much. This is not over. Mommy will continue to fight for justice."

She added that "being convicted for a murder I didn't commit is unbelievable. I feel the system has failed me."

Judge Mazzei said he's presided over scores of murder cases and was hard-pressed to find one "that was more evil. This was such a senseless death of a guy, one of the kindest men around."

He added: "I just don't understand how someone could do this to another person. For a house? Two houses? I just can't imagine a more evil plot."

Outside, neighbors and friends of Pedersen were tearful. "Thank God," one said. "Justice is served."

Evidence at trial established that Pedersen, 69, had died to a single gunshot at the back of his head; he was discovered in his Aquebogue home on March 8, 2020, prosecutors said.

O’Mahony, 42, was convicted for her involvement in Pedersen’s murder, forging Pedersen’s will and attempting to steal one of the homes he owned, Tierney said.

Evidence included the testimony of friends of O’Mahony, who she convinced to sign the forged will as witnesses, Tierney said.

O'Mahony was convicted by the jury on all charges, including second-degree murder; second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; and second-degree attempted grand larceny, Tierney said.

Several items, including Pedersen’s phone and cash, were missing from the home, prosecutors said. The police investigation, including interviews with several of Pedersen’s friends and O'Mahony, as well as the recovery of surveillance video and the review of cell phone cell sites and records, revealed that she was responsible for his murder, Tierney said.

According to evidence included at the trial, in 2019 O’Mahony asked a friend to purchase two handguns for her, a Glock .9 mm and a Sig Sauer .9 mm, in NJ to use for the murder, Tierney said. She borrowed the friend’s car and was captured on video surveillance in the area of Pedersen’s home on the night of the murder, he added.

When O’Mahony returned several hours later following the murder, she asked the friend to dispose of several items, including the Sig Sauer handgun he had purchased for her, ammunition, and clothes, the DA said.

After returning to NJ, the friend destroyed the handgun and disposed of the clothes but kept the plastic bag of ammunition in his home, Tierney said. After the bag was recovered by the police, it was swabbed for DNA, prosecutors said. Analysis by forensic scientists at the Suffolk County crime laboratory revealed the presence of both O’Mahony’s and Pedersen's DNA, the DA said.

“This was a cold-blooded killing fueled by greed, treachery, and the complete disregard for LeePedersen’s life, all in order to steal the victim’s home,” said Tierney. “The only new home this defendant will be living in, as a result of her actions, is prison.”

O’Mahony was also found in possession of a will that was forged to appear that Pedersen had
willed his home to her. During the police investigation, Pedersen’s authentic will was
recovered, which did not state O’Mahony was to inherit the Aquebogue house as stated in
the forged will.

On January 24, 2023, O’Mahony was convicted of second-degree murder, a felony, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony, and second-degree attempted grand larceny, a felony. In addition to the 25 years to life in prison for the murder, she was sentenced to and tw0-and-one-third to seven years in prison for each charge related to the forged will, Tierney said.

The prison terms imposed for the second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and the attempted grand larceny charges will run concurrently with each other, but consecutive to the prison term imposed for the second-degree murder charge, Tierney said.

According to Gas Engine Magazine, Pedersen was a "lifetime engine enthusiast," associated with the Long Island Antique Power Association in Riverhead.