Elderly Taunton Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murdering His Wife

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — An 88-year-old Taunton man will serve the remainder of his life in prison after pleading guilty to second degree murder in the fatal shooting of his wife.

According to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Edmund Silveira pled guilty last Friday in Fall River Superior Court and was sentenced to serve life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

On August 29, 2021, Silveira fired eight rounds at his 71-year-old wife Dianne Silveira, striking her four times in their Bay Street home. The D.A.’s Office said that shortly before 9 p.m. that night, the victim’s sister called the victim on the phone and heard her scream before the phone went dead.

After being unable to reach her several times, the sister contacted Taunton Police.

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The D.A.’s Office said at the same time, a next-door neighbor heard screaming coming from outside and then several gunshots. The neighbor looked out the window to find Mrs. Silveira lying motionless in the driveway and Mr. Silveira walking away from her body.

Police arrived and saw Silveira retreat into his home, while his wife was rushed to Morton Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Inside his home, Silveira turned off all the lights and did not respond to law enforcement. Authorities used a robot equipped with a camera to enter the home and discovered Silveira in his kitchen with apparently self-inflicted lacerations to his arm and neck.

He later told police he first attempted to shoot himself, but the gun jammed.

“In a recorded confession, the defendant admitted to suspecting his wife of having an affair (she was not) and didn’t want her to tell her sister that they had been arguing,” the D.A.’s Office said.

District Attorney Tom Quinn called it “a case based on jealousy and unfounded paranoia that resulted in the defendant murdering his wife” and called Silveira’s actions “selfish” and resulting “in a terrible loss for her many family members and friends.”