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In October 1981, Diane Delia, a young transsexual model, was found wrapped in a soaked yellow blanket with four gunshot wounds to the head in the Hudson River. The victim had two ongoing relationships at the time - one with her husband Robert Ferrara and another romantic relationship with a female nurse, Robyn Arnold.
The investigation soon revealed that Diane, formerly known as John Delia, had relationships with both Ferrara and Arnold before she underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1980 and at the time of the murder, was embroiled in a complex love triangle.
A tip from a third person and other evidence found eventually implicated both her partners in the killing, but only her husband, Robert Ferrara, was convicted in the murder case.
An upcoming episode of Murder in the Big Apple on ID is slated to explore Diane Delia's decades-old murder case this Thursday. The episode titled Friends, Lovers, Killers will air on the channel at 10:00 pm ET on June 1, 2023.
The synopsis states:
"The murder of transgender woman Diane Delia uncovers a volatile marriage, a confusing love triangle and an illicit affair; the detectives lack the evidence to make an arrest until someone comes forward with a shocking story."
A bullet pierced Diane Delia's eyeball while three others struck her in the skull
Diane Delia, formerly known as John Delia, once came out as gay and had engaged in several relationships with men, one of them being with a man named Robert Ferrara, who worked as a bartender at The Playroom, a gay bar.
She then underwent s*x reassignment surgery in Colorado while dating a wealthy Jewish-American nurse named Robyn Arnold in November 1980. Delia then dropped her birth name - John - and started officially identifying as Diane, after her favorite drag queen Diana Ross.
The following year, Diane's relationship with Robyn turned shaky and she eventually went on to marry Robert in the summer of 1981. The couple reportedly had an open marriage as she continued to pursue a relationship with Robyn at the same time and got involved in a complicated love triangle.
Diane later moved out of the house she shared with her husband and started living with Robyn before winding up dead. Her body, with four gunshot wounds to the head, was discovered in the Hudson River on October 28, 1981. Dressed in a lavender camisole top and pants of the same color, her body was found wrapped in a yellow blanket. One bullet struck her eye, and the other three hit her in the skull.
Diane Delia's lover and husband were arrested for the killing, but only the latter was convicted of murder
Both of Diane Delia's partners at the time, Robyn Arnold and Robert Ferrara were considered primary suspects in the slaying. But things only became apparent after a man named Dominick Georgio was arrested on unrelated charges. Dominick tipped the authorities about both their roles in the brutal killing.
Robyn and Robert were then arrested and charged with the murder. The former claimed she had an alibi from when the murder occurred, but authorities found the victim's shoes in her closet and linked the yellow blanket which was found wrapped around Diane's body to her. Meanwhile, a witness reported that Robert pawned his wife's diamond ring even before her body was found.
Prosecutors believed that Robert Ferrara and Robyn Arnold drove Diane Delia to a forested area where they shot her before the former returned to the crime scene after two weeks, wrapped the victim's body in Robyn's yellow blanket, and dumped it in the Hudson River.
A letter Robert wrote to Dominick sealed the deal for him in which he confessed to Diane Delia's killing. In the letter, he mentioned that the gun used to shoot Diane was the same one she bought before to execute a robbery. He further revealed that Robyn first shot her twice and even hit her in the head and that he fired the final two shots.
According to The Cinemaholic, a jury acquitted Robyn of the charges and found Robert guilty of second-degree murder, handing him 25 years to life in prison in 1982.
ID's Murder in the Big Apple will further delve into the case this Thursday. June 1, at 10 pm ET.
