Nassau Woman Pleads Guilty For Her Role In Her Mother's Murder

LONG BEACH, NY — A Lynbrook woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to her role in her mother's murder at the hands of her boyfriend following an attack in 2016.

Francesca Kiel, 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. She is due back in court on Sept. 13, and is expected to be sentenced to 13 years in prison. Her boyfriend, former New York City corrections officer Ralph Keppler, pleaded guilty to the murder last year, and was recently sentenced to 22 years to life in prison.

“The shocking murder of Theresa Keil was made all the more horrific by her daughter’s involvement, helping her boyfriend Ralph Keppler track her mother by GPS, and calling the cab in which he fled after crushing her skull with a barbell,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “Thanks to the hard work of the Long Beach Police Department, Nassau County Police Department’s Electronics Squad, and our prosecutors, Theresa Kiel’s killers were brought to justice.”

On Dec. 4, 2016, around 10:30 p.m., 54-year-old Theresa Kiel was walking to her apartment at 5 New York Ave. in Long Beach and was in the entrance corridor when she was attacked by Keppler. He struck her several times in the head and face with a metal barbell, causing severe brain damage, a shattered skull, a depressed right eye and lost teeth.

Theresa Kiel and Keppler were involved in a business dispute at the time of the attack, prosecutors said.

Theresa Kiel was rushed to South Nassau Communities Hospital after the attack and was in a vegetative state until she died Nov. 10, 2018.

After the attack, Keppler fled and returned to the home in Lynbrook that he shared with Theresa's daughter, Francesca.

Before the attack, Singas said that Francesca bought a GPS tracking device and put it on her mother's car. She also set up email alerts to notify her when the car was near her mother's home or office. Francesca called a Long Beach taxi company on the night of the attack — the same taxi company that picked up Keppler near the apartment that night, Singas said.

Keppler, who worked as a New York City corrections officer, was arrested at Rikers Island by members of the Long Beach Police Department on Jan. 24, 2018 on attempted murder charges. Those charges were upgraded when Theresa Kiel died. He was subsequently fired from his job.

Francesca was arrested on Nov. 11, 2018.