For Killing Wife Fallston Man Sentenced To 50 Years

BEL AIR, MD — A Fallston man was sentenced to 50 years this week for fatally shooting his wife last summer. The victim was in bed when her husband fired five times, according to the Harford County State's Attorney, who said a nanny cam recorded the killing.

Ricardo C. Muscolino, 56, of Fallston, was sentenced to 30 years for second-degree murder and 20 years for using a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.

Harford County Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Curtin said that Muscolino "gave his daughters a life sentence" by killing their mother.

Muscolino had confronted his wife earlier in the day on Aug. 31, 2017, about having a brief affair after reading social media messages between her and her lover, prosecutors said. That evening, he shot her.

Deputies responded to the couple's home in the 2300 block of Windswept Court in Fallston at 11:38 p.m. for a report of a shooting, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

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Upon finding Lara Muscolino, 48, shot multiple times in the upper body, deputies rendered first aid until the Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Company took her to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries, officials said.

The medical examiner testified at trial that she was in a defensive position when her husband shot at her five times, striking her four of them.

Ricardo Muscolino left his three juvenile daughters in their bedrooms before turning himself in at the northern precinct, according to prosecutors, who said detectives found the 9-mm Glock hidden in a laundry basket in the bedroom as well as the five casings and more ammunition that had not been used.

"...the defendant knew exactly what he was doing when he pulled the trigger not once, not twice, but five times," Assistant State’s Attorney Emma Goerlich said during sentencing on Friday, Feb. 9. "He left his three daughters without a mother and now without a father, and is not deserving of any leniency from the court.”

The father of the victim also spoke at sentencing.

"No father should have to bury their child," Darryl Crockett said. "This wound will never scar over; it remains an open wound and will for as long as I live.”

On the Justice for Lara Crockett Muscolino Facebook page, a woman who identified herself as Lara Muscolino's sister shared her victim impact statement, in which she asked for the maximum sentence.

"He still has shown no remorse since the murder. No concern that he took his children's mother away. No remorse for taking my sister away, my parents' daughter away..." the statement said. "I feel like I will always be mourning my sister, and the people we all were before this ever happened."

Ricardo Muscolino did receive the maximum sentence, which is 30 years for second-degree murder and 20 years for using a firearm in a violent crime. He will serve the sentences consecutively at the Department of Corrections.

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