In an interview from the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, former New Orleans sportscaster Vince Marinello told The Times-Picayune that he was "stunned" and "shocked" by his Dec. 13 conviction in the murder of his estranged wife:
Vince Marinello did not expect to spend the holidays behind bars. The former New Orleans television and radio personality was so confident of his defense strategy -- one that included his own testimony -- that he did not mind going to trial just before the holidays. The jury would clear him of murder, and he would spend Christmas Day with his family, particularly with his 2 1/2-year-old grandson and his 94-year-old mother. "That's how reasonably certain I was of an acquittal," Marinello said. So he was taken aback Dec. 13, when he heard the jury's unanimous verdict: guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife, Liz Marinello. "Quite frankly, I was stunned," said Marinello, 71. "I was shocked." He talked about the two-week trial, the prospect of life in prison and his life now during an interview last week in the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, where he has been confined since the conviction. Marinello proclaimed his innocence and touched on what he called an assault on his reputation by prosecutors and a betrayal by his former radio co-workers who testified against him. Despite the verdict, which came after 90 minutes of deliberation, Marinello insists he is not a murderer.
Read the rest of the T-P story, published Sunday, here.