Woman sentenced in son's slaying

CHENEY – A 59-year-old woman who killed her son and disposed of his remains near Rock Lake was sentenced June 26 in Spokane County Superior Court.

Judge Annette Plese sentenced Christine Catelli to 6.5 years in prison. Catelli, who originally faced a second-degree murder charge, pleaded guilty June 20 to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Chase Catelli, 35.

The standard sentencing range is 78 to 102 months (6.5 -8.5 years)

According to court documents, Catelli shot her son in June 2022 at her boyfriend’s home just of South Cheney Spangle Road, at 1403 W. Jennings Road, where Crystal Michaels, Chase Catelli’s half-sister, said her brother lived on and off.

Before Catelli decided to dispose of her son’s remains, she cut her son’s head off his torso, then wrapped them separately in plastic and disposed of his remains near Rock Lake, court records show.

In January 2023, she confided with her brother about the killing and he persuaded her to turn herself in to law enforcement, records show.

Her brother informed the Sheriff’s Office that he drove her from Western Washington to Spokane County so she could report the crime and assist law enforcement in recovering her son’s remains, records show. She led law enforcement to the location where she had disposed of her son’s body.

There, they discovered human remains wrapped in black plastic, according to the court records.

Christine Catelli told detectives that she shot her son five or six times in the chest and head because she “didn’t want him to suffer,” records show. She explained that she cut off his head with a saw before dumping his remains.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sharon Hedlund said Catelli’s brother and her other son spoke on her behalf at last week’s plea and sentencing, records show.

She mentioned that the family members supported the plea agreement, which Hedlund described as a “fair” resolution.