CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman was stabbed to death when she went to buy an item listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, police said.
Denise Williams, 54, was found dead Tuesday in the apartment of Joshua Gorgone, 26, after her family had reported her missing Monday evening, WJAC reported.
Officials don’t believe the two knew each other.
Williams had multiple stab wounds and signs of struggle and defending herself, Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees said in a news conference Wednesday.
“She put up one heck of a fight ... to defend herself,” Lees said during the news conference, The Tribune-Democrat reported.
District Attorney Greg Neugebauer said Williams met with Gorgone at his apartment to buy a refrigerator she had found on the online selling community Facebook Marketplace.
She had planned to buy the appliance for her boyfriend.
“She went there to look at the fridge and never came out, unfortunately,” Neugebauer said, according to WJAC.
Geistown police chief Nicholas Zakucia reminded the public to be safe when meeting someone to purchase items found on services like Marketplace.
“It’s never a good idea [to meet at someone’s house]. Public place. Meet with more than one person. You never know what you’re going to walk into,” Zakucia said.
Gorgone was arrested hours after the alleged attack.
Investigators say a woman who was found stabbed to death in Geistown Tuesday was meeting up with a man she met on Facebook Marketplace to buy a fridge for her boyfriend.https://t.co/GmX7hkgeay
— 6 News (@WJACTV) April 7, 2021
Police said Williams’ cellphone was found eight miles away from the apartment. Her SUV was found four blocks away, The Tribune-Democrat reported.
Blood had been found on the vehicle’s driver’s side door and a small bag of what police believe was cocaine was found in the center console, the police report said, according to the newspaper.
Gorgone has been charged with homicide and aggravated assault, WTAJ reported.
This isn’t the first time Willams’ family has been struck by tragedy.
Her brother Robert Williams, Jr. died from two gunshot wounds to the head in 2013. His son was 4-years-old at the time and told police that two men had broken into their home. There have been no arrests in his case and it is now considered a cold case. Police do not believe the cases are related, WJAC reported.
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