FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A woman convicted of killing her 70-year-old boyfriend inside his Fort Lauderdale mansion in June 2011 was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday.
Catherine Pileggi showed no visible reaction when she was convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm in November 2014. Her attorney told Local 10 News that she didn't have unrealistic expectations.
"I know that she is a gentle, sweet, kind, timid person who would never hurt a fly unless she was severely provoked, and she was that night," attorney Bruce Udolf told Local 10 News at the time.
Pileggi took the stand in her own defense, telling jurors she suffered through two decades of verbal, physical and sexual abuse before she killed Ron Vinci. She also claimed Vinci pointed a loaded gun at her earlier that fatal evening and said she soiled herself.
According to police, Pileggi shot Vinci in the head, stabbed him in the chest nine times, slashed his throat with a knife and crushed his skull with a hammer before wrapping his body in bedding and plastic bags with duct tape.
A video showed Pileggi buying a blue plastic 45-gallon container at Home Depot on the morning of Vinci's death, police said. An identical container appeared in the crime scene photos taken at Vinci's home.
She later confessed, telling detectives her plan was to dump his body in the ocean before she was caught.
Pileggi faced up to life in prison.
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