Teen sentenced for
killing Nau suspect

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Perhaps the only person who really knew what happened to Michelle "Mikalena" Nau is dead.
Last week, the teenager who murdered the man suspected of killing Nau threw himself upon the mercy of a Philadelphia court and was sent to state prison.
Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner sentenced Domenic Curcio, 18, formerly of the 1100 block of Foulkrod St. in Northwood, to six-and-a-half to 15 years behind bars for the March 1, 2006, shooting of George Conway.
Curcio was facing a possible five- to 40-year jail term.
At the April 18 sentencing hearing, Curcio reportedly sobbed, apologized to his victim’s family and asked Lerner for mercy. Facing a possible capital murder case, the defendant pleaded guilty to third-degree murder last month.
Curcio said he was high on PCP and cocaine when he shot Conway, 48, in the chest and back at Conway’s apartment on the 4200 block of Princeton Ave. in Tacony. The defendant, then 17, was angry that Conway had allegedly bragged about killing Nau, a reputed prostitute and aspiring real estate agent, weeks earlier.
Authorities believe that Nau, 37, of the 1100 block of Elbridge St. in Castor Gardens, died in Conway’s apartment on or about Feb. 4, 2006, during a binge of drug use. Curcio knew Nau personally.
According to testimony from Curcio’s March 22 preliminary hearing, Curcio visited Conway and saw Nau there before her death. He visited Conway again sometime after Nau’s death and saw the woman’s corpse.
Many other individuals visited Conway around the time of Nau’s death and may have seen her body, authorities have said. But dates, times and accounts provided by those witnesses are often contradictory and considered unreliable because of drug use.
One of Conway’s neighbors reported hearing loud noises from inside the apartment on the day that authorities believe Nau died.
Other witnesses have said that Conway strangled the woman, who may have been acting erratically after consuming large amounts of drugs.
Ultimately, authorities believe, Conway disposed of at least a portion of Nau’s body in a Fishtown trash bin, which he set on fire on Feb. 16, 2006.
The contents of the trash bin later were delivered to a Delaware County plant and incinerated.
Nau’s remains have not been found.
In the weeks following Nau’s disappearance, Conway bragged to Curcio about dismembering the woman and dumping her remains around Southern New Jersey, according to Richard Lepera, a friend of Curcio’s who testified at Curcio’s preliminary hearing. That was more than Curcio could take.
Lepera testified that Curcio had spoken on multiple occasions of killing Conway. Curcio did precisely that when he and Lepera visited Conway shortly after midnight on March 1, 2006, to buy crack cocaine.
During the visit, few words were exchanged between Curcio and Conway, Lepera said. At one point, Curcio went into the bathroom and emerged with gun blazing.
After the first shot, Lepera said, he ducked for cover and heard several more blasts.
The two fled the scene as neighbors who heard the shots called 911.
Curcio and Lepera later met up at a motel in the lower Northeast with a couple of prostitutes, authorities have said.
The room was rented in the name of one of the women. When police questioned her, she revealed having heard Curcio admit to the Conway murder.
Police arrested Curcio about two weeks after the Conway murder. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com