Renee DiPietro: Pennsylvania woman who fatally stabbed a man fighting with her son convicted of murder

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA: An elderly Pennsylvania woman, who is accused of using a blade hidden in a walking cane to fatally stab a man fighting with her son, has been convicted of murder.

Jurors found Renee DiPietro, 70, guilty of third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime after several hours of deliberation on Thursday, February 1, as per Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI. Michael Thomas Sides, 31, died after DiPietro stabbed him with a 16-inch blade hidden in her walking cane on June 10, 2023. 

Renee DiPietro appeared to defend herself 

DiPietro appeared to defend herself as she was led out of court after the verdict and she told reporters that she intends to appeal. “What would you do if it was your child?” she said from behind her hands, shielding her face, as two sheriff’s deputies escorted her into an elevator.

When were the authorities informed about the incident?

On June 10, the Lower Marion Township Police Department officers were called for a stabbing at the intersection of Cricket Avenue and Cricket Terrace at around 1.30 am. They found Sides bleeding profusely from his upper torso. He was rushed to the hospital where he died about an hour later.

Dan Rogers, one of Sides’ friends, told detectives Sides was “sucker punched” earlier in the night by a mutual friend later identified as Jason DiPietro, the affidavit stated. Sides said he was “going to seek [him] out.” During the altercation, the victim was preventing Jason DiPietro from getting into a white car when his parents, Renee and Michael DiPietro, got out of the car, according to the affidavit.

What did the detectives state in the affidavit?

Rogers saw Renee DiPietro “lunge” toward the victim, causing him to fall to the ground bleeding with what appeared to be a black cane that fell apart, the affidavit said. She then struck the victim while he was on the ground, detectives wrote in the affidavit.

“Rogers stated it was then apparent to him that the female stabbed the victim,” the affidavit stated, adding “Following the stabbing, Rogers stated the female attempted to remove the license plate from the vehicle and the older white male, the female and Jason DiPietro departed from the scene in the white sedan, believed to be a Nissan.”

Renee DiPietro got a call earlier in the night from her son

Renee DiPietro told detectives she got a call earlier in the night from her son who was “upset and crying” so she took her baseball bat and walking cane and, along with her husband, drove to his location.

She told detectives when her son tried to get into a car a “big” man prevented him from doing so and was assaulting him, the affidavit said. She got out of her car to “defend her son” and said when the man came at her she “poked him” and he fell to the ground. She then drove away with her husband and son, detectives wrote.