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Annamarie Cochrane Rintala and Cara Rintala were known to share an abusive relationship as 911 calls, restraining orders, exhausted credit limits, and blackmail defined their married life. They even filed for divorce on May 12, 2009. But on March 29, 2010, Annamarie was found dead in the basement of their Granby home. Cara became the main suspect and was arrested on October 19, 2011, with charges of first-degree murder.
Despite the disturbing circumstances, Cara Rintala's trial hearing spread out over the next 12 years as she went through four trials. Cara is presently sentenced to 12 to 14 years in prison but is living her life in Rhode Island on bail.
Season 32 episode 20 of Dateline NBC, titled Down the Basement Stairs, airing on December 15, 2023, at 10 pm EST, chronicles Cara's involvement in Annamarie's murder.
Who was Cara Rintala? Details explored
Cara Rintala worked at the Ludlow Fire Department, while Annamarie Rintala worked for American Medical Response in Springfield. The two started seeing each other in 2002 and got married in 2007, eight years after the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
The Rintalas were reportedly not in a healthy relationship, as their marriage was marked by Annamarie's reckless spending, alleged extramarital affairs, and abuse. Cara Rintala was arrested for assault and battery in September 2008, but Annamarie eventually dropped the charges. After a distressing call to 911 placed by mistake on May 12, 2009, the Rintalas filed for divorce and eventually sought restraining orders against one another.
On March 29, 2010, Cara found Annamarie Rintala dead in the middle of the basement. Her body was covered in Glidden white ceiling paint, which had dried inconsistently while her eyes were open. Blood streaks were on the floor while the door jamb seemed to have been meddled with.
Why was Cara Rintala arrested?
On the morning of March 29, 2010, Cara had been out to respond to a call at Ludlow Fire Department in the morning. She allegedly ran errands with their adopted daughter Brianna since 3 pm to allow Annamarie to recover from her shift the previous night. She left multiple voicemails on Annamarie's phone, per phone records and security footage obtained by the investigators.
As Cara returned home around 7 pm to find Annamarie's body, she rushed to her neighbor, Roy Dupuis, with Brianna and her dog, asking them to call the police. Cara was found wailing and cradling Annamarie's body, which had gone stiff by then. Daily Hampshire Gazette mentioned the findings of forensic pathologist Joann Richmond, who testified that Annamarie died six to eight hours before she was found.
Annamarie's autopsy suggested that the cause of her death was manual strangulation. Cara Rintala was interrogated once at the Granby Police Station before she got hold of her lawyer, David Hoose. She was arrested and indicted with first-degree murder of the 37-year-old Annamarie on October 19, 2011 - more than a year and a half since the unfortunate incident.
The evidence against Cara Rintala included the paint, which was designed to be pink when wet and turn white upon drying. Now, the paint that Annamarie was found covered in was still pink.
As per reports, Cara had stopped at a McDonald's with Brianna on the afternoon of March 29, the day Annamarie died. From the trash can of that McDonald's, authorities retrieved a rag with a “faint bloodstain,” which later matched Annamarie's blood. The security footage captured their pickup truck carrying a laundry basket and a red bag, which were never found.
Where is Cara Rintala now?
Rintala has undergone four trial hearings for her charges since 2011. Her first and second trials in 2014 and 2015 resulted in a deadlocked jury; hence, they declared it a mistrial. The third trial in 2016 sentenced her to life in prison. However, her sentence was overturned on appeal after Cara had served seven and a half years.
The fourth trial, which began on September 6, 2023, resulted in a sentence of 12 to 14 years, accounting for the time she had served. She currently lives with her family in Rhode Island on bail and has a court-appointed curfew and GPS monitoring, per Court TV.
