5 chilling facts about the Ramsay Scrivo murder

The spine-chilling Ramsay Scrivo murder case is revisited and re-examined in the eighth episode of Oxygen's highly absorbing true-crime series Snapped season 19. The much-awaited episode of Snapped arrives on Oxygen on Monday, December 19, 2022, at 7.00 pm ET.

Titled Donna Scrivo, the episode's official Oxygen synopsis reads:

"The discovery of a dismembered man rocks a close-knit town as shocking accusations spread about the alleged culprit and his doting mother."

The astonishing story goes way back to 2014. A 32-year-old man named Ramsay Scrivo succumbed to his tragic death after his own mother, Donna Scrivo, strangled him.

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Ramsay Scrivo's health issues, his relationship with his mother Donna, and more facts about the 2014 case

1) Ramsay Scrivo was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia

A still of Ramsay Scrivo (Image via Find a Grave)

Ramsay Scrivo was reportedly a 32-year-old man residing in the suburban city of St. Clair Shores in Macomb County, United States. He used to live with his mother, Donna Scrivo, who was 60 years of age and professionally a registered nurse. They lived together in a St. Clair Shores condo.

Ramsay was reportedly diagnosed with a severe kind of paranoid schizophrenia, making him quite dangerous to both himself and others when he was not on medication. His medical condition worsened after his father's demise.

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2) Ramsay had a difficult relationship with his mother Donna Scrivo

A still of Donna Scrivo (Image via Morbidology/Facebook)

Reportedly, Ramsay Scrivo had a complicated and strenuous relationship with his mother Donna. After his father's demise, Ramsy even attempted suicide. At the time, his mother Donna became his legal guardian as she allegedly wanted to take care of her son.

Donna reportedly had a poor temper and tried to control Ramsay's every move. As per The Cinemaholic, while talking about Donna and Ramsay's relationship, Donna’s late husband’s sister Alison Furtaw stated in her testimony in court:

"They loved each other but they had a difficult relationship, sometimes there would be lots of arguing, and she had trouble coping with my brother’s death."

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3) Ramsay was strangled to death in January 2014

On January 30, 2014, Ramsay's chopped-up body parts were discovered inside five different black plastic garbage bags in different locations on the roadside. Authorities learned about the same after a motorist informed them about a human head rolling out of a garbage bag on a rural road in St. Clair County.

Later on, as revealed by the autopsy report, the cause of Ramsay's terrifying death was asphyxia, denoting that he was strangled before his body was inhumanely dismembered. It was then reported that the terrible incident took place on January 27, 2014.

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4) Ramsay was brutally murdered by his mother Donna Scrivo

It was none other than Donna Scrivo, Ramsay's biological mother, who reportedly murdered him on January 27, 2014, inside their condo in the suburban city of St. Clair Shores.

She strangled Ramsay to death after dosing him with fatal amounts of Xanax and other anti-depressants. After he passed away, she went on to use an electric saw to chop off parts of his body, put them inside garbage bags, and then disperse them on the St. Clair County roadside.

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5) Donna Scrivo was arrested and convicted for the murder of her son Ramsay

A promotional poster for Oxygen's Snapped (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Although Donna Scrivo did not plead guilty during her trial and reportedly exclaimed that a masked man killed his son and made her do all the following terrible activities, the jury did not believe her and she was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on June 23, 2015.

Donna Scrivo is currently imprisoned at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Michigan.

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Watch episode 8 of season 19 of Snapped, which arrives on the popular true crime network Oxygen, on Monday, December 19, 2022, at 7 pm ET.