Woman Guilty In Fatal Main Line Stabbing With 16-Inch Blade

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — A Philadelphia woman was convicted on third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime charges in connection with a June 2023 deadly stabbing incident in Lower Merion Township.

Renee DiPietro, 70, of Philadelphia, was convicted on Thursday of the charges, which were filed in connection with the stabbing death of 31-year-old Michael Sides, of Ardmore.

DiPietro will be sentenced in mid-April, court records show.

According to authorities, Lower Merion Police were called to the area of Cricket Avenue and Cricket Terrace at about 1:30 a.m. on June 10, 2023, for a reported stabbing.

There, police found a man, later identified as Sides, on the ground, unresponsive and hemorrhaging from his upper torso.

Sides was transported to Lankenau Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:28 a.m.

An investigation found that a fight occurred earlier that night at a nearby bar.

During the altercation, one of Sides' friends was "sucker punched" by a man, later identified as Jason DiPietro, according to the DA's office. After the incident, Sides was overheard saying that he was going to "seek out" Jason DiPietro for assaulting his friend, the DA's office said.

Cameras from a local business captured Sides’ death. On the video, Jason DiPietro was seen trying to get into the backseat of a white Nissan sedan, occupied by his parents Michael DiPietro and Renee DiPietro, according to the DA's office.

Sides stopped him from getting into the vehicle, the DA's office said. Sides, who was not armed, began fighting with Jason DiPietro.

Video shows Renee DiPietro getting out of the front passenger side of the vehicle, going up to her son and Sides, and joining the fight, according to the DA's office. Renee DiPietro was seen stabbing Sides with a long-edged weapon, which was later determined to be a 16-inch blade sheathed in a cane, the DA's office said.

Sides fell to the ground and Renne DiPietro was seen hitting Sides again while he was on the ground, according to the DA's office.

The DiPietros get back into the Nissan and drive away from the area, the DA's office said. Video surveillance footage showed the vehicle’s license plate was bent upwards to obscure the license plate in an attempt to avoid later identification, according to the DA's office.

The DiPietros did not render aid to Sides or call 911, the DA's office said.

An autopsy on Sides' body showed he died of a single stab wound to the chest, and the manner of death was homicide.

Renee DiPietro turned herself in to face charges in August.