Murder Suspect In 1982 Cold Case Denied Bail In SMC: District Attorney

FOSTER CITY, CA — An 82-year-old man accused of murdering his wife in 1982 will remain in custody on a no-bail status following a court hearing where he was denied release, the San Mateo County district attorney’s office announced Friday.

The denial of bail for Patrick Vincent Galvani was secured in part by the impassioned opposition of the victim's family. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s office announced Friday that Galvani’s daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law attended the hearing and addressed the court, arguing against his release, prosecutors said.

Galvani was arrested Nov. 24 in San Francisco and booked into the San Mateo County Jail on a murder charge after the Foster City Police Department reopened the decades-old cold case.

The victim, Nancy Galvani, was a 36-year-old social worker at the time of her death. Her body was found strangled, naked, and wrapped in a sleeping bag tied to a cinder block under the San Mateo Bridge by fishermen on August 9, 1982, police said.

Police said the case remained unsolved despite extensive efforts over the years until recent developments allowed investigators to move forward. Charges were ultimately brought after a yearslong campaign by the Galvanis’ daughter, celebrated Yale professor Alison Galvani, to convince prosecutors to pursue the case, police said.

In 1982, Nancy Galvani had recently left her husband, Patrick, moving with their 5-year-old daughter, Alison, to a Tenderloin women's shelter. Friends told reporters at the time that she planned to divorce Patrick and had filed a restraining order against him, accusing him of a prior attempt to kill her.