'I don't think I'll ever be repaired': Musician Dave Navarro on losing his mother at age 15 after she was brutally murdered by an ex boyfriend

By Shyam Dodge for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

Dave Navarro's mother Constance was brutally murdered by an ex boyfriend in 1983 when the future rock star was just 15 years old.

And now in a new interview, the 47-year-old opens up about his personal process with the trauma and his renewed efforts to bring greater awareness to issues of domestic violence.

Speaking with HuffPost Live, the Jane's Addiction founder revealed that he cannot imagine a time in his life when he could be 'repaired' from the damage of losing his mother. 

Devastated by loss: Dave Navarro opens up in new interview about his mother Constance's brutal murder, pictured in Los Angeles in October

Devastated by loss: Dave Navarro opens up in new interview about his mother Constance's brutal murder, pictured in Los Angeles in October

'My mother was in a relationship, the relationship ended,' Navarro recalled during the interview. 'She wanted to go a different way, and her then-ex-boyfriend murdered her and my aunt.' 

The guitarist then went on to describe his partnership with Mariska Hargitay, who he met when guest starring on Law And Order: SVU.

The actress is leading a campaign to bring greater awareness to issues of domestic violence through celebrities volunteering to appear in televised public service announcements. 

'I don't think I'll ever be repaired': His mother Constance was brutally murdered by an ex boyfriend in 1983 when the future rock star was just 15 years old, pictured performing in West Hollywood

'I don't think I'll ever be repaired': His mother Constance was brutally murdered by an ex boyfriend in 1983 when the future rock star was just 15 years old, pictured performing in West Hollywood

Previous relationship: The 47-year-old was married to Carmen Electra from 2003 to 2006, pictured in 2005  

Previous relationship: The 47-year-old was married to Carmen Electra from 2003 to 2006, pictured in 2005  

'The situation with my family was in the '80s,' he explained. 'We didn't have PSAs like this, we didn't have the Internet.

'We didn't have have the means of communication that we have today, and we didn't have such a broad reach in terms of getting a message out. So of course I'm happy to be a part of that.'

Killer: A California appeals court has upheld the life sentence for John Riccardi convicted 20 years ago of murdering two women, including Dave Navarro's mother

Killer: A California appeals court has upheld the life sentence for John Riccardi convicted 20 years ago of murdering two women, including Dave Navarro's mother

Navarro is also working on a feature length documentary centering on the loss of his mother.

'A lot of this trauma is what we're talking about,' he explained of the film. 'A lot of trauma survivors have the cloud of trauma with them forever. Part of my process was to get into this traumatic event as deeply as I could.'

But the rocker confessed: 'I don't know if there's ever a day when you're repaired. [But] to have a deeper emotional understanding, to have a deeper psychological understanding, I definitely feel more at peace for sure.' 

The details of the murder that took his mother away are gruesome and brutal.

On March 3, 1983, Constance 'Connie' Navarro's ex-boyfriend John Riccardi forced his way into her home in West Los Angeles and killed her and her friend Sue Jory.

Police later found 41-year-old Constance's body partially stuffed inside a linen closet.

Dave, then 15, was staying with his father on the night of the murders.

After the slaying, John Riccardi spent eight years on the run before he was finally arrested in Houston in January 1991 after the TV show America’s Most Wanted aired a segment about him.

During questioning, Riccardi admitted that he and Connie Navarro were on bad terms after their split, but he denied killing her, San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The victim’s son said that a week before his mother brutal killing, her jealous boyfriend broke into her home and handcuffed him at gunpoint, but Dave only reported the incident to police after Connie Navarro’s death.

In 1993, Riccardi was found guilty of two counts of murder and sentenced to death due to the heinous nature of the crimes, but the sentence was overturned in 2012 because of a problem with a juror. However, a California appeals court has upheld his life sentence.

 

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