Case snapshot
Alison Shaughnessy was strangled in her Staten Island apartment in June 1999 while her infant daughter slept in another room. Her husband found her body when he returned from work. The investigation would uncover a conspiracy involving her own cousin and his girlfriend, both of whom were later convicted of her murder.
The victim
Alison Shaughnessy was 21 years old, a new mother building what seemed like a stable life with her husband, John. She worked as a secretary, lived in Staten Island, and had recently welcomed a daughter. Friends and family described her as caring and devoted, focused on creating a future for her child.
On June 27, 1999, Alison was home alone with her baby. John had left for work that morning. When he returned that afternoon, he found Alison dead on the bedroom floor. She had been strangled.
The scene
John called 911 immediately. First responders arrived to find the apartment mostly undisturbed. No forced entry. No signs of a struggle in the common areas. The baby was unharmed.
Alison’s body was in the bedroom. The lack of defensive wounds and the absence of theft pointed to something personal. Investigators believed she had either let her killer inside or knew the person who entered.
The investigation
Detectives started with the husband. John Shaughnessy was questioned, as is standard in cases like this. He cooperated fully and was cleared early on.
Then another name began surfacing in interviews: Paul Cortez, Alison’s cousin. Cortez had been close to Alison, but investigators learned his behavior had shifted in the months before her death. He was involved with a woman named Melissa Malave, and the relationship seemed volatile, intense.
Phone records placed both Cortez and Malave in the area on the day of the murder. Their alibis didn’t hold. Statements given to police contained inconsistencies. Detectives started building a timeline, and it pointed to conspiracy.
The conspiracy
Prosecutors believed Cortez and Malave had plotted Alison’s murder together. The motive, according to the state, was rooted in jealousy and control. Malave was infatuated with Cortez. Alison, who had been close to him, was seen as a threat, an obstacle that needed to be removed.
The theory was that Malave entered the apartment that day and strangled Alison while Cortez stayed nearby. There was no DNA, no fingerprints tying her to the scene. But the circumstantial evidence, phone records, timeline, and witness testimony created a picture prosecutors believed was enough.
The trials
Paul Cortez went to trial first. In 2001, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life.
Melissa Malave’s trial came two years later. Prosecutors argued she was the one who carried out the strangulation, driven by her obsession with Cortez and a willingness to do whatever he asked. In 2003, she was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.
Both maintained their innocence. Both filed appeals. Both lost.
The evidence problem
The case against Cortez and Malave was built almost entirely on circumstantial evidence. No physical proof placed Malave in the apartment during the murder. No DNA. No fibers. No fingerprints.
Defense attorneys argued the convictions rested too much on theory and motive, not hard forensic proof. They questioned whether the timeline alone was enough to convict two people of murder.
Prosecutors argued the totality of the evidence, the behavior before and after the crime, the inconsistencies in their stories, all pointed to guilt. They said the absence of physical evidence didn’t erase what the investigation had uncovered.
The convictions stood. But the questions didn’t go away.
Aftermath
John Shaughnessy raised his daughter alone. He stayed out of the public eye after the trials ended. Alison’s family expressed relief at the guilty verdicts but struggled with the fact that her killer had been someone so close.
Paul Cortez remains in prison. He has been denied parole multiple times. Melissa Malave is also still serving her sentence. Both continue to deny involvement.
Where to dive deeper
- Documentary: “Deadly Women” (Investigation Discovery)
- Book: “The Encyclopedia of Women Killers” by Michael Newton
- Podcast: “Women Who Kill” (“Murder Squad”, Exactly Right Media)
