Prominent RI Woman with National Political Ties Charged in Husband’s Death

Prominent RI Woman with National Political Ties Charged in Husband’s Death

She was a prominent Rhode Island woman from a family of political players. She had national ties and married a top adviser to Democratic Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.  

54-year-old mother of three Penelope "Penny" McGee found herself last week in Norfolk Superior Court in Massachusetts facing manslaughter charges tied to the death of her ex-husband Andrew Savitz. The death was more than a year earlier. 

She pleaded not guilty on Friday.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Savitz helped run former Massachusetts Governor Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign and most recently was a consultant based in Brookline.  

According to her LinkedIn page, McGee, who had once served as a Vice President at J.P. Morgan Chase where she launched a "Women and Philanthropy" program, was the founding Executive Director of the Council of Women World Leaders at the Kennedy School at Harvard. 

“The allegations are that the defendant went to the home of her ex-husband, Andrew Savitz, who was 66 at the time, on the night of January 28, 2020, after receiving an email from his brother about evicting her from her residence,” said District Attorney Michael Morrissey.

Brookline Police had classified the incident as domestic violence and did not publicly release information in the aftermath. 

 

Court Documents

Court documents on file in Norfolk Superior Court state that McGee and a family member who was in the home at the time gave different versions of the events that followed. 

The family member heard “Savitz, repeatedly asking [McGee] to leave the house. When she went downstairs to see what was going on, [she/the witness] saw the defendant slapping the victim in the face and chest and pushing and shoving him. [She/the witness] indicated that she called 911 and while she was on the phone with the dispatcher the victim collapsed and fell to the ground,” according to the Commonwealth’s Statement of the Case filed at arraignment.

Savitz was transported to Beth Israel Hospital and pronounced deceased shortly after midnight. 

According to court documents: “An autopsy was performed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on January 30, 2020. Dr. Rebecca Dedrick performed the autopsy and discovered that the victim had suffered from diabetes mellitus as well as hypertensive, atherosclerotic and valvular cardiovascular disease. The victim had also experienced a stroke a few months prior to this incident.”

“Given the condition of the victim’s health and the facts of the incident that occurred, Dr. Deidrick opined that the cause of death was Cardiac Dysrhythmia following an altercation in a person with Hypertensive and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Mellitus.”

 

Bail Set

Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Jennifer Blair asked Judge Brian Davis on Friday to impose $20,000 cash bail on McGee with a variety of conditions, including that she not leave the state without permission, remain alcohol-free with testing, and have no contact with certain parties in the case. 

Davis imposed $2,500 cash bail, stay-away orders, and ordered McGee to remain alcohol-free, surrender her passport, and comply with other conditions if she is released.

McGee had previously entered a plea of not guilty to Brookline District Court t assault charges in the incident before her February indictment.

Judge Davis ordered the defendant to return on May 6, 2021, for pre-trial conference.

McGee's attorney Larry Tipton did not respond to the request for comment at the time of publication. 

 

About Couple -- and Rhode Island Ties

McGee, who served as the Vice President of the luxury division of the real estate company Compass, has worked in a variety of investment relation and fundraising roles, including as the Campaign Finance Director for the Steve Grossman for Governor campaign in Massachusetts in 2014. 

Savitz, whose work on the 1988 Dukakis campaign included “offering war room training and advice to George Stephanopoulos," according to his obituary, wrote a book in 2006 called "The Triple Bottom Line," about how top companies achieve economic, social and environmental success. 

He was the principal consultant at Sustainable Business Strategies for some 15 years, advising organizations on how to become more sustainable.

McGee’s late father, Phil McGee, was involved in his family business, the former McGee Parking Corporation in Downtown Providence, as well as Claremont Realty Company, for several years, according to his obituary. Later, he became a well-known salesman for the former Criss Cadillac Company for many years before retiring.

A graduate of Worcester Academy and Providence College, he served on the Board of Directors for many organizations, including the Donley Rehabilitation Center, Providence Port Authority, and the Providence Off-Street Parking Commission. He was a member of The Dunes Club in Narragansett and the Sons of Irish Kings.

McGee’s late mother, Elaine McGee, was a communicant of Saint Pius V Church in Providence, and “an active lifelong volunteer in many Democratic Party political campaigns, and a member of the Dunes Club, Narragansett. She also volunteered for numerous religious, civic, and charitable organizations throughout Rhode Island,” according to her obituary.