Tiffani Hill had celebrated a big lottery win before her husband committed a sickening act before taking his own life. The victim’s family say he was abusive
A 31-year-old mother and her one-year-old daughter were brutally shot by her husband in a horrifying murder-suicide, months after she scooped a £1.5 million lottery win.
When police arrived at the home of Tiffani Hill and 42-year-old John Donato they found them both dead, along with their young child, Leanne.
Tragic Tiffani’s fortunes changed when she struck gold on a California scratch card in November 2020. After her win, she married Donato and the couple moved to Oklahoma.
But family members told KXII-TV that Donato was abusive to Tiffani and that she had told them she wanted to escape the relationship.
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An attorney for the family, Theresa McGhee, told the station that the lottery win was a point of contention for the couple.
“Could that have sparked that argument? We’ll never have any way of knowing,” McGhee said. “But I do know there were times it caused conflict between them.”
She added: “Most of all, Hill’s family wants other domestic violence victims in peril to learn from her tragic death. There are resources that people don’t reach out for. She hopes somebody’s listening and will think this could be me next, this could be me and my child.”
Any money remaining in the couple’s estate was put into a trust fund for Hill’s other children, who were in the house at the time of the August 2021 shooting but were unharmed.
It comes after a man who set up a camera in a bid to catch his wife cheating inadvertently filmed himself murdering her.
Stephen Mooney, 52, was sentenced to life behind bars following at Ireland’s Central Criminal Court, in Dublin. He was convicted of killing his 43-year-old wife Anna – and at a hearing he apologised to his wife’s family as well as their two children.
Detective Sergeant Basil Grimes told prosecutor Desmond Dockery SC that Mooney alerted emergency services at about 1:09am on June 15, 2023.
He reported a person had been stabbed at his home in Kilbarrack Road, Kilbarrack, in Dublin, and when he was asked who did it, he replied: “I did.”
A fire brigade officer was first on the scene and found Mooney kneeling over his wife’s lifeless body, speaking to emergency services. A knife was still lodged in her chest.
Mooney told a paramedic: “I’ve killed her…She’s my wife. This has been going on for years. I’m really sorry, she’s been having an affair.”
The Gardaí assessed his phone for the first time using updated software that allowed phones to be hacked, even when they are protected by a password or pincode. Analysis of the phone uncovered a 90-minute video clip that included footage of the murder.
Mooney could be seen leaving the room where the killing happened and returning with the murder weapon. The moment Anna was murdered happened off-camera, but audio did record “all events leading to her death.”
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk.
If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk.