Andreacchio’s live-in girlfriend Whitley Goodman and his friend Dylan Swearingen were there the day of his death, before it was ruled a suicide.
The death of Christian Andreacchio, 21, has been ruled a suicide since his 2014 death, but many, including his family, believe it was murder. Now, after “48 Hours” discovered a new piece of evidence, the case may get a real second look.
Peter Van Sant, a correspondent for "48 Hours,” discovered during his research for "The Suspicious Death of Christian Andreacchio," a report airing this Saturday 10/9c on CBS, that a key investigative report in the case was not presented to a Mississippi grand jury in 2017 when they were to decide whether Andreacchio’s live-in girlfriend Whitley Goodman and his friend Dylan Swearingen would be indicted in the case. They were not indicted.
In the uncovered report, an investigator for the Meridian Police Department wrote that Andreacchio's death should be investigated as a homicide, according to "48 Hours." When the show presented current prosecutor Kassie Coleman with the report, she said she was willing to reconvene a grand jury to present the new information, according to the show.
Andreacchio was found dead in his bathroom apartment in Meridian on Feb. 26, 2014. He was kneeling on the bathroom floor with his upper body slumped into the bathtub, according to Mississippi Today. Goodman and Swearingen were both home that day. Swearingen called police. The death was ruled a suicide, but even police who came on after the suicide had been ruled said something was off about the investigation.
“Things just didn’t fit,” Meridian Police Chief Benny Dubose told Mississippi Today. “I think that the investigators on the scene should’ve been allowed to complete their investigation and talk to witnesses. The rule of thumb is you treat any crime scene as a homicide until you can prove otherwise.”
Swearingen told police Andreacchio was acting erratically before he died, according to police reports. Swearingen also told authorities that Andreacchio had threatened to shoot himself, telling Goodman to tell him that she loved him, but Swearingen took the gun from him.
His family doesn’t believe the story.
"I believe 100% he was murdered," Andreacchio's mother, Rae, told “48 hours.”
Investigators hired by the family said they determined Andreacchio had been murdered, and Forensic pathologist Dr. Jonathan Arden believes the way Andreacchio was found didn’t align with a suicide. He believes the body was moved after his death,
”None of this lines up for him to have shot himself in the position where he was found," says Arden. "It's a staged scene."
Both Goodman and Swearingen maintain their innocence.
Rae Andreacchio says she hopes the new information will bring justice for her son.
”We’re 100% confident that if the information is presented fairly, that people will be indicted," she said. "And then, of course, from there there'll be a trial."
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