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Jury begins deliberating in Bilotti murder trial

Alleged hit man's attorney says client acted in self-defense

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A jury began deliberating in the Bilotti murder trial Wednesday afternoon.

Mike Bilotti, 60, his daughter, Christin Bilotti, 27, and John Pachiana, 42, then-manager of Bilotti's Miami strip club, Secrets, are charged in the murder of Richard Rojas.

Pacchiana's attorney, Dohn Williams, did all he could Wednesday morning to refute the state's claim that his client was hired to kill the ex-boyfriend of Mike Bilotti's daughter.

"If there was this diabolical plan – this conspiracy to commit this first-degree murder, why not just grab Richard Rojas," Williams said. "That two guys just grab him, tackle him, throw him in a car and take him to the Everglades, and shoot him in his car and leave him – if that's his diabolical plan."

Williams said his client shot and killed Richard Rojas, 19, in self-defense.

Pacchiana claims he was provoked, and was guarding the Bilottis' Davie home that morning in July 2005. He said he believed Rojas would follow through with a threat to return to the house in the middle of the night. 

The state contends that Rojas was lured to the house when Bilotti's daughter, then 17, falsely told her father that Rojas had raped her.

Mike Bilotti's attorney said there was no setup, claiming Rojas came to the house looking for trouble and found it.

Later in the afternoon, prosecutor Greg Rossman spent the majority of his rebuttal driving home the allegation that Christin Bilotti concocted the rape accusation against Rojas, going along with her father's plans to kill her ex-boyfriend.

Wayne Palazzola, 47, and Richard Corbin, 39, each pleaded guilty to an accessory charge in connection with the murder. They face between 13 and 30 years in prison when sentenced.

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Amanda Batchelor headshot

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

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