Two people involved in Du Pont murder case quietly released early from prison

Du Pont murder case murderers released early from prison

Diana Hironaga, 55, a key player in what was known as the Las Vegas Du Pont murder case, also known as the Dupont murders, has been quietly released early from prison.

The former porn star was a middle age street-wise drug addicted prostitute on the streets of Las Vegas in the late 1990s when she teamed up with Christopher Moseley to murder 45-year-old Pati Margello in August 1998.

Kiane Lee was the name Diana Hironaga used in porn movies she starred in. (Photo: Karupspc)

She was the one who introduced the two people who would later be convicted of murdering Margello, and Diana Hironaga was present during the murder. Some believe she took part in the murder.  She admitted that she only helped conceal the body after Margello was already dead.

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For her role in providing key information about the Du Pont murder and about the man who masterminded the plan she was sentenced in June 2000 to one-hundred ninety months in prison which is just shy of 16 years.  Her release date for her role in the DuPont murder should have been sometime in mid 2016.

Although Congress eliminated federal parole for all prisoners convicted on or after Nov. 1, 1987,  prisoners are regularly released early with time off for good behavior, and they have no further reporting requirements. It is actually more beneficial to the inmate than parole which requires supervision.

She was quietly released from prison for her role in the Du Pont murder on June 30, 2012.

In addition to being released early, it appears that Diana Hironaga had a fairly easy time while incarcerated. In an online testimonial purported to be from her parents the following message was posted,

Thank you for your fair and excellent representation of our daughter, Diana Hironaga’s days in court for violation of a capital crime. She faired well relative to the other defendants, her sentence was fair, although as parents we would like to have seen lesser incarceration time. Her attitude is positive so I believe she will fair well in the prison camp where she will be able to learn trades and upon release will be a contributing citizen.
We will continue to visit her in Las Vegas while confined in the Las Vegas Detention Center on a monthly basis. Lynn and your staff have been very helpful in coordinating our visits to see Diana. I would like to support of your office in continuing the coordination for our visits.
Our appreciation to you, Lynn and your staff for a job well done.

One of the actual DuPont murderers, Joseph Balignasa, is also out of prison. He was released early on parole.

Christopher Moseley was the central figure in the Du Pont murder case that led to the murder of Pati Margello.

Moseley worked as a gardener before he married his extremely wealthy boss, Du Pont descendant Lisa Du Pont Moseley.  She is the great-granddaughter of Lammot Du Pont. It is widely believed, although never proven, that she was behind the entire DuPont murder plot to get Margello out of her son’s life. After all, she had all the money and he had nothing.

Du Pont Moseley’s son from her first marriage, Simpson Dean MacGuigan, known as Dean, was a troubled man. Even though he claimed that at one time he was a successful stockbroker who made six figures annually he spent whatever money he made, and whatever family money he could get his hands on, for drugs.

As time went on he gave up any premise of working and morphed into a full-fledged drug addict who simply lived off of his mother’s money. Perhaps that is a curse of such affluence. His older brother Peter MacGuigan was also a drug addict and died of a heroin overdose in 1995.

Whether his mother loved him or hated him, one thing is for sure, she wanted to control him.

And she did for many years.

He eventually married  a woman named Linda in 1992 who his mother considered far beneath his social status. Linda did not have any money to speak of and worked as a bookkeeper.  The newly married couple lived in one of his mother’s lavish homes.  His concerned wife was able to convince him to enter a drug rehab center approximately a year after they were married. Once MacGuigan was in rehab, Du Pont Moseley made her move and evicted Linda.

It appears that MacGuigan never really gave it a thought and his marriage for all intents and purposes was over, although he was still legally married.

Dean MacGuigan passed away on Sept, 26, 2013.

When he came out of rehab MacGuigan had a new girlfriend, Pati Margello, a toothless, drug-addicted, sometimes prostitute that he moved into the same lavish home that he lived at before entering rehab. MacGuigan and Margello, kindred spirits, stayed together even after Du Pont Moseley threw them out of the home and cut her son off.

His once extravagant lifestyle was over and he accepted his new living arrangements in the lower rungs of society.

It is believed that MacGuigan’s mother wanted her son back and did not want her son’s wife or his girlfriend laying any claims to the family fortune so the DuPont murder plan was formulated.

Moseley, acting as the coordinator, convinced MacGuigan to move to Las Vegas and establish residency so that he could obtain a divorce from his wife, Linda. The agreement called for him to come alone, get a job and live a clean lifestyle. He was promised and received a handsome expense account.

Soon though he called for Pati Margello and they resumed their drug-fueled lifestyle.

Moseley needed to find a way to get Pati Magnello out of MacGuigan’s life.  If she would have accepted the money from Moseley that he offered her and left town she might still be alive, but she refused to be bought off.

Diana Hironaga then became involved and helped bring the Du Pont murder to fruition.

She was paid $5,000 in cash by Moseley to strike up a friendship with Margello, convince her to break up with her boyfriend and leave town.  She was unable to convince her.  With the promise of another $5,000, she recruited two men to murder Margello;  her boyfriend Ricardo Murillo, 37, and another man they both knew, Joseph Balignasa, 25. They too would receive $5,000 apiece for the Du Pont murder.

Hironaga lured Margello to the Del Mar motel in Las Vegas on Aug. 1, 1998. Diana Hironaga spun a tale about meeting two high rollers. The high rollers were actually the two hired hitmen, Murillo and Balignasa.

Margello was choked to death in the Del Mar motel room in the early hours of Aug. 2.  Her body was bound in a tight ball that was secured with cables, wrapped in plastic and stuffed in the air conditioning vent.

The trio checked out of the motel and left the body in the vent where it was discovered on August 6, 1998.

Although MacGuigan may have grown suspicious of Moseley’s intentions, it is widely believed that he had no knowledge or involvement in the Du Pont murder, but he could have known about it. Margello became frightened and called her boyfriend for help from the motel.  She reportedly even asked him if he was involved in a plot against her.  He denied any involvement but never went to help her or called anyone for help.  Instead he went to sleep.

As he had demonstrated by his past behavior with his wife Linda he could seemingly walk away from anyone. Especially if money was involved.

Dean MacGuigan did call area hospitals and he claimed that he searched the streets looking for Margello. He eventually contacted police and voiced suspicions that Moseley, his stepfather, might be involved in his girlfriend’s disappearance.

The trail led to Hironaga and she confessed.

Diana Hironaga and Christoper Moseley both cooperated with authorities in exchange for reduced prison sentences for their roles in the Du Pont murder case.

Hironaga, as mentioned earlier, has been released from prison approximately four years before her scheduled release date.

Christoper Moseley was sentenced to 16  1/2 years.  He died May 25, 2004 at the Butner Federal Medical Center outside of Raleigh, N.C.

Joseph Balignasa has been paroled.

Dean MacGuigan died on Sept, 26, 2013.  He was 55 years old.

The only two people alive connected with the Du Pont murder case are Murillo and Du Pont Moseley

Richard Murillo was sentenced to two life terms and is incarcerated at the high security USP Pollock prison in Louisiana.

Lisa Du Pont Moseley, who is also known as Lisa Dean MacGuigan Moseley, is still alive living off the vast Du Pont fortune.

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