Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Scorned: Fatal Fury: Money Can’t Buy You Life’ chronicles the sensational tale of a multi-millionaire New York industrialist, Ted Ammon, and his wife, Generosa. Suspecting infidelity on his part, the wife had filed for divorce and was embroiled in a relationship with an electrician named Daniel Pelosi as she fought for an expensive divorce settlement. However, when Ted was found murdered amidst the ongoing legal battle, everybody suspected Generosa and her lover. So was she really behind her husband’s murder? Let’s find out, shall we?
Was Generosa Ammon Behind Her Husband’s Murder?
Generosa LeGaye Rand Ammon was born on March 22, 1956, in Laguna Beach in Orange County, California. As per her, she and her elder sister were raised by their single mother, Marie Therese LeGaye, who worked as a church secretary. Marie died of brain cancer when Generosa turned 10, and she found out about her biological father, an Italian sailor allegedly named Generoso, while leafing through old family picture albums.
According to Generosa, Marie had an affair with the said sailor and found herself pregnant when she returned to America and decided to keep the baby. After their mother’s death, both the girls were packed off to a foster home where Generosa took the surname Rand after her foster family. Generosa claimed that her foster family was quite abusive and she found solace in her sister who died in a hit-and-run accident. She went on to enroll herself at the University of California at Irvine and shifted to New York to work as an apartment agent after graduating in 1981.
It was while working as an agent she met fledgling millionaire, Robert Theodore “Ted” Ammon, in a meet-cute manner and both got married in February 1986. She was finally free to pursue her passion for art as she mingled with the elites of New York and indulged in expensive and exorbitant habits. Periodicals and tabloids of that time recalled how the money finally got to her head and Generosa started to strongarm and manipulate others as her husband’s wealth grew exponentially.
Friends and relatives recall Generosa to be a vengeful and insecure woman who always carried a nagging belief that she was being betrayed. A former friend recalled, “The minute she felt that rejection she was like a woman out of control. A fear arose in her. It’s almost like there was a trigger.” The Ammons allegedly tried to conceive a baby but decided to adopt when all measures failed. They went to Ukraine where they adopted twins, a boy and a girl, and Ted dotted over them.
But friends recollected how Generosa wasn’t comfortable around them as she had grown up an orphan. As years went by, her relationship with her husband began to worsen. The couple had agreed to move to England to raise their children but Ted had to stay behind because of a multi-billion dollar business deal. Back in England, Generosa began to suspect he was having an affair with a beautiful New York investment banker and had private investigators tail her husband. By 2000, Generosa was back in New York with the children and she filed for an expensive divorce.
As the lawyers from both sides negotiated over the financial aspects, Generosa had fallen in love with a Long Island electrician named Daniel Pelosi. The couple led an exorbitant lifestyle, allegedly on Ted’s money, as the divorce case finally went to trial. Generosa was shocked when she found Ted wasn’t worth what she had thought and the money she’d get from the divorce wouldn’t meet her expectations at all. The judge had also ruled for joint custody of the children, overruling Generosa’s demand of sole custody. Weeks later, Ted was found bludgeoned to death in his East Hampton weekend home.
How Did Generosa Ammon Die?
With Ted’s death, Generosa Ammon stood to inherit all of her husband’s property. Based on Generosa’s multi-million dollar motive and Daniel’s long rap, the media started speculating how the couple had been behind Ted’s murder as soon as the millionaire’s death became public. The speculations were further fanned by her marrying Daniel months after the murder.
Generosa was diagnosed with breast cancer and was offered immunity in exchange for testifying against Daniel. She declined and died of breast cancer on August 22, 2003. In death, she left the estate to her children and Daniel $2 million in a legal settlement. In his 2012 appeal, Daniel claimed that Generosa had Ted murdered by hired guns due to her suspecting him of having a child with the colleague he was allegedly having an affair with. However, the claims were never proven in court.
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