Source: USATODAY
DETROIT — A Michigan mother, who was accused of dismembering her son's body, was charged with his murder Monday.
Authorities revealed Monday that Donna Scrivo used an electric circular saw to dismember her adult son's body after she killed him.
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The power saw was found in one of the bags in which Ramsay Scrivo's remains were discovered last month across rural parts of St. Clair County, Mich.
In a bizarre twist in his gruesome death, authorities said his mother was seen on a store security video buying the saw used to dismember her son's body.
Scrivo, 60, was denied bond during her arraignment on first-degree premeditated murder charges, the prosecutor's office said.
Authorities did not detail how Scrivo killed her 32-year-old son but an autopsy showed he died of asphyxiation. Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz ruled Monday that Ramsay Scrivo's death was a homicide.
During a bond hearing earlier this month on other charges in the case, Assistant Prosecutor William Cataldo told a district court judge that Ramsay Scrivo was "horrifically mutilated" with ligature marks on his neck and blunt-force trauma to his head and shoulders.
At that time, Cataldo told the court Ramsay Scrivo's body was probably placed in a bathtub and set on fire after it was mutilated.
Police have said that blood and bleach stains were found in Ramsay Scrivo's home, also in St. Clair Shores, and Donna Scrivo was seen carrying black garbage bags before her son's remains were found. There also was blood in her SUV, which was donated to the Mother Waddles car donation program after her son's body parts were dumped.
Scrivo was arraigned in 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores on the murder charge. A future court date has not been set. She was referred for a psychological evaluation to determine her competency to stand trial.
She previously was charged with disinterment and mutilation of a dead body and removing a body without medical examiner's permission.
Prosecutor Eric Smith said the charges "demonstrate the lengths Mrs. Scrivo went to before, during and after the murder of her son."
The case is unusual and disturbing especially after Scrivo just eight months ago sought hospitalization for and guardianship of her son, who was diagnosed with psychosis and threatened to hang himself after his father died of a terminal illness last year.
Donna Scrivo filed a missing person's report for her son Jan. 27, claiming he left his home where she also was living while her fire-damaged house was being repaired.
St. Clair Shores Police Detective Sgt. Jay Cohoe said investigators wanted some closure for the family, but have not been able to locate a missing limb, believed to be an arm.
He said investigators don't have a motive for the unique crime.
"That's been the difficult part, too, of this investigation, trying to wrap our heads around it," Cohoe said.
Mark Haddad, who was appointed by the court to represent Scrivo on the two prior charges, said a not guilty plea was entered for her on the murder charge and that her family is expected to hire private counsel for her for the murder case.
"The lady's a real sweetheart. Very pleasant, very respectful," Haddad said of Scrivo, who he previously met with. "I don't understand. ... There's gotta be more to this story."
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