'Die instantly': Woman who burned dismembered homeowner in fire pit had lived in his attic for months

A 37-year-old pistillate successful Pennsylvania is facing a imaginable beingness condemnation aft admitting to shooting and sidesplitting a 66-year-old man, past utilizing a chainsaw she purchased with his wealth to "cut him up" and burn his remains successful his backyard occurrence pit. Marisa Jean Rodriguez past week pleaded "guilty — mentally ill" to a spate of felonies, including third-degree execution and maltreatment of a corpse successful the 2023 slaying of Michael Maisner.

Rodriguez had initially been facing a complaint of first-degree murder, but the complaint was downgraded aft she reached a woody with prosecutors successful the Erie County District Attorney's Office, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. She besides pleaded blameworthy to charges of transgression mischief, possession of an instrumentality of a crime, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, theft, tampering with grounds and unauthorized usage of a centrifugal vehicle.

A justice successful January 2024 ruled that Rodriguez was mentally incompetent to basal trial. However, the justice reversed that ruling successful September 2024 aft uncovering Rodriguez acceptable to lend to her ain defense.

As Law&Crime previously reported, the unit came to airy connected April 12, 2023, aft Maisner's household members, acrophobic they hadn't heard from him successful astir 2 weeks, went to his location successful the 7000 artifact of Crestview Drive successful Summit Township. There was nary motion of Maisner, but the household recovered Rodriguez successful the attic, wherever she had reportedly lived for respective months earlier the murder.

The adjacent day, authorities went to Maisner's location for a payment check.

In Maisner's home, investigators recovered a conception of carpet and padding missing, imaginable quality tissue, humor splatter, cleaning items and bleach-stained clothing, Erie-based ABC/Fox affiliate WJET/WFXP reported, citing the transgression complaint. Police besides reportedly recovered bizarre writings connected the walls of the home.

In a occurrence pit, investigators recovered an eyeglass framework piece, a representation frame, carpet foam, carpet, charred quality remains and burned bony fragments, aboriginal identified done DNA arsenic Maisner's, Erie News Now reported.

After Rodriguez killed Maisner, she drove the victim's Cadillac STX astir 40 miles to his location successful New York, wherever constabulary arrested Rodriguez the adjacent time connected car theft charges. She was extradited to Pennsylvania to look execution charges. During questioning, she reportedly admitted surviving successful Maisner's attic for up to 3 months and made comments astir him being dead, though she claimed not to cognize however helium died.

The victim's nephew, Adam Maisner, told Erie News Now that Maisner allowed Rodriguez to enactment with him to assistance astir the house.

"He was conscionable a laid-back guy," Adam Maisner said. "He was waiting to get his hips replaced, and each helium was reasoning astir was golfing and riding his motorcycle aft that. That's each helium wanted to do."

Authorities said they linked the fishy to the sidesplitting done her online searches that included the phrases "Mike Maisner," "how to sprout someone," "how agelong does it instrumentality to pain a dormant body," "burn a body," "if you sprout idiosyncratic successful the caput they dice instantly," and "cutting a dormant assemblage with a concatenation saw," WJET/WFXP reported.

In her online account, authorities allegedly recovered video of the fishy getting the PIN for Maisner's debit card, a photograph of a .357 revolver, and photos and videos of a dormant Maisner successful a excavation of humor with a gunshot coiled to the backmost of the caput and torso, the presumption reported.

Authorities said that the videos amusement the fishy wearing the achromatic and brownish shoes recovered successful Maisner's car successful New York, according to the complaint. She allegedly spent astir $600 of his wealth astatine a Walmart connected April 3, 2023, Erie News Now reported — including the acquisition of a chainsaw.

During a preliminary proceeding successful August 2023, she reportedly interrupted testimony, saying, "Well, I'm guilty" and aboriginal saying, "Then I chopped him up," the Erie Times-News reported.

Rodriguez was initially recovered incompetent to basal proceedings successful January. Citing tribunal documents, a psychiatrist who diagnosed Rodriguez with schizophrenia during an exam successful lockup reportedly said that Rodriguez had made comments astir the Bible and "how cats were her champion friends."

The paper besides reported that she wrote rambling handwritten letters to her lawyer successful pencil portion successful custody astatine the Erie County Prison.

"I don't cognize wherefore I acted the mode I did with the body," she says successful 1 letter. "TRAMITIZED. Still am."

Rodriguez is presently scheduled to look for her sentencing proceeding connected Oct. 13.