Post by ~Wizeguy~ on Nov 1, 2003 11:06:33 GMT -5
Rinick gets life
10/31/2003,
PHILADELPHIA — A jury spared the life of an associate of Philadelphia's jailed mob boss on Friday, deciding he did not deserve the death penalty for murdering a former friend.
Jurors deliberated for about an hour before sentencing William Rinick, 31, to life in prison for the Halloween slaying of Adam Finelli exactly two years ago.
Rinick offered to sell his home to Finelli for more than $85,000 in cash, then shot him the day they were to close the deal and kept the money.
The case has been a tabloid sensation in Philadelphia because of Rinick's relationship with Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, a reputed head of the Philadelphia underworld now serving time for racketeering.
Just days after Merlino went to prison, drug agents conducting a morning raid on the South Philadelphia home of his wife, Deborah, found Rinick hiding under a bed, clad in his underwear. Rinick said he and Deborah Merlino were just friends.
But during his trial, Rinick offered sordid details about Merlino's private life. Testifying in his own defense, the convicted drug dealer said that the day before Finelli's slaying, he drove Deborah Merlino to Maryland to get an abortion. He claimed she became pregnant after an affair with a New York football player he did not name.
Finelli, 25, was shot five times in the back of the head as he sat in his Cadillac Escalade, apparently by someone in the back seat. A prosecution witness, Michael "Mike FX" Focoso, said he was present for the killing and fingered Rinick as the triggerman.
Rinick's attorney, Paul George, and prosecutor Ed Cameron did not immediately return phone messages left at their offices following the jury's decision Friday.
via
gangstersinc
