Scott Magnano, a violent father and husband from Terryville, Connecticut, shot himself in the head to end his life in August 2007. It happened after he brutally killed Jennifer Magnano in front of their son.
His body was discovered in a remote spot not far from the residence where the crime was perpetrated.
Scott had been a terrible tyrant against Jennifer and their children, Jessica, David, and Emily, for years, punishing them with coercive control methods and willful physical and sex assault.
But when Jennifer unexpectedly died at her abuser’s hands this time, she was determined to liberate herself.
This Sunday, February 19th 2023, Evil Lives Here on ID will run a brand-new episode titled “Kill Him, Save Yourself,” which will explore the narrative of Jennifer and Scott Magnano.
According to the synopsis, “David Magnano and his stepsister Jessica know that Scott is dangerous and that they would be safer without him; what David doesn’t realise is how much he will regret not killing Scott when he had the opportunity.”
In November 1992, when Jessica Rosenbeck, Jennifer’s child from a previous relationship, was just six years old, she and Scott Magnano exchanged vows.
In retrospect, she recalled her stepfather as being “very cruel” by the time their first kid was born in 1992.
The family relocated to the same house in the same town in the same year.
As time, Scott’s violent tendencies increased, and he started to berate Jennifer verbally and even make death threats if she ventured to leave with David.
David reportedly told Inside Edition that physical abuse occurred “pretty routinely” and increased in frequency over time.
Jessica was allegedly sexually molested by Scott for three years, beginning when she turned 18.
“I remember the first time he was cuddling with Emily in bed,” recalled Jessica in great detail. He invited me to join as I entered. He called it “snuggling,” but in reality it was just indecent touching and talks that would happen while he was only wearing his underwear.
David and Emily Magnano, together with Jennifer Magnano, were about to move to California, but Jessica had already left on her own flight.
On August 23, Scott Magnano surprised the family as they were returning to their old home to gather some possessions.
David’s memories of what happened next are hazy, but he does remember that Scott grabbed his mother and took her into the kitchen as she begged him not to act in front of the kids.
After hearing a gunshot that killed his mother Jennifer instantaneously, David followed his parents down the stairs. He lost consciousness throughout the tragedy, but he afterwards realised that he had seen his mother’s awful demise.
Following the incident, Scott escaped the scene in the family’s vehicle and made his way to an empty parking lot a few blocks away, where he shot himself in the head.
Scott was pronounced dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following an autopsy, and his death was classified as a suicide.
This terrible act of violence cruelly ended the family’s plans to relocate to California, leaving David and Emily to deal with their mother’s passing and the upsetting recollections of the moments leading up to her passing.
Jessica, Jennifer’s daughter, was spared from the awful tragedy since she had already relocated to California, but she would still have to deal with her mother’s passing and the shocking circumstances surrounding it.