Pamela Phillips is facing life behind bars for the murder of Gary Triano, a real estate developer who was killed by a homemade pipe bomb in 1996. Prosecutors accuse Phillips of hiring another lover, Ronald Young, to kill Triano before she fled to Europe.
BY Carol Kuruvilla
Pamela Phillips, a once-prominent socialite, was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 1996 Tucson car bomb killing of her ex-husband after spending years abroad living a lavish lifestyle across Europe.
Nearly two decades after the death of her millionaire ex-husband, an Arizona socialite was convicted of killing her former flame for $2 million in life insurance.
Pamela Phillips, 56, was found guilty on Tuesday of hiring the hit man who planted a bomb inside Gary Triano’s car in 1996, freeing her to live a lavish lifestyle in Europe.
Jurors deliberated for less than three days before convicting the woman of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She faces life in prison and will be sentenced on May 22.
Prosecutors accused Phillips of being a gold digger who lost faith in her man after his real estate investments tanked. The woman apparently struck up a relationship with another lover, Ronald Young, whom she allegedly paid $400,000 to carry out the hit.
But defense lawyers say Phillips would have gained nothing from the deal because she was already a successful real estate broker.
Defense attorney Paul Eckerstrom claimed Triano had many other enemies and accused the state of failing to follow up on those leads.
"The state went after the easy marks," Eckerstrom told jurors during closing arguments. "You have to tell the state: 'You made a mistake.' "
Triano was a developer who earned millions by investing in Native American bingo halls and slot-machine parlors in Arizona and California. After the real estate market declined, he lost control of his gambling interests and had to file for bankruptcy.
But Phillips had gotten used to living extravagantly. She started borrowing thousands from her wealthy friends, Fox reports.
Phillips eventually filed for divorce. The couple, who had two children together, separated, but Phillips remained the beneficiary of Triano's insurance policy, paying the premiums herself.
After moving to Aspen, Colo., Phillips began dating Ronald Young. Defense lawyers claim she paid her boyfriend $400,000 for assistance with business ventures and financial planning. But prosecutors argue she was paying him for murder.
Mari A. Schaefer/Arizona Daily Star/APIn this Nov. 1, 1996 photo, investigators from the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Pima County Sheriff's office look over the car in which Tucson developer Gary Triano was killed when it exploded in the La Paloma Country Club parking lot in Tucson, Ariz.
Triano was killed by a homemade pipe bomb on Nov. 1, 1996, just as he put the keys in the ignition of his Lincoln Town Car outside a Tucson-area country club. He was 52 at the time.
Soon after the death, Phillips collected on the $2 million insurance plan and bought a fancy new home in Aspen. She sent her daughter to an elite boarding school in Switzerland.
Justice caught up to Young in 2005. He was arrested in Colorado on fraud charges. Cops said they found detailed records of his dealings with Phillips, including recorded telephone conversations and invoices.
In one recording, Young appears to grow angry over not receiving his payments, telling Phillips, "You're going to be in a woman's prison for murder."
One prosecution witness, a longtime friend of Phillips, testified that Phillips once told her how easy it would be to hire someone to kill her husband.
The defense downplayed the testimony, noting Phillips was distraught at the time after having a fight with Triano during which he threatened her. Phillips' lawyers also called into question the witness' memory.
They called in more than 70 witnesses to try to convince jurors that Triano had a number of enemies who could have planted the bomb.
After spending years abroad, Phillips was arrested in Austria in 2009 and extradited to Tucson. Her case was delayed after a judge ruled she was mentally unfit to stand trial at the time.
Source New York Daily News
No comments:
Post a Comment