Electronic Kill Machine

The Neighbor

Margaret Menz had known Anthony Calabro for quite some time. She and Ant often traded stories when they ran into each other in the hallway of the apartment building or outside in the neighborhood. During the afternoon of December 19, 2001, Menz had left work early and returned home, which was in the same building in which Marina Calabro shared an apartment with Ant.

As Menz came up the street, oh, maybe 3:00 o'clock or so, she recalled later in court documents, she spied Ant sitting in Thomas Lally's truck outside the building in the driveway. Ant had his dog with him. The door to the truck was open. He seemed a bit nervous. Not himself.

"Hey," said Margaret.

Ant was startled. He hadn't expected her. "Hey," he said. He was obviously surprised, she said, to see her. After all, she had come home early.

"What are you doin' sitting here in your truck?"

"I'm nervous," Ant said. "I got into an accident with my car."

He had, in fact, totaled the car Marina had bought him and, he said, he didn't know how to go upstairs and tell her about it. She was going to be livid, Ant suggested. Really mad that he had wasted all that money.

After ten minutes of what Margaret later called "small talk," alongside Ant, Margaret walked into the house from the backyard.

As they made their way to the door, Ant said, "You see that?"

"What?"

He pointed to the dog. "My dog senses something," Ant mused.

It was an off-the-wall comment. Margaret didn't know what to make of it.