Murder of Ron Vinci by Catherine Pileggi spotlighted on Snapped

Oxygen is re-airing the Snapped investigation into the murder of multimillionaire Ron Vinci, who was brutally killed by his long-term girlfriend, Catherine Pileggi, at their waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

On June 27, 2015, Pileggi asked their handyman to come around to the house. When the workman arrived, Pileggi told him that 70-year-old Vinci had fallen down the stairs and was dead.

She claimed he had always wanted to be buried at sea and asked the handyman to help her put him in a large plastic container she had bought that morning and dump him in the ocean. The handyman called the police.

An autopsy revealed that Vinci had been shot in the head, stabbed nine times, had his throat slashed, and his head was bashed in with a hammer. Pileggi had then duct-taped his legs and wrapped the body up in a sheet.

Pileggi later confessed to the detectives, but she claimed it was self-defense.

The killer said she had suffered two decades of physical, sexual, and mental abuse at the hands of Vinci.

Catherine Pileggi claimed Ron Vinci threatened her with a gun on the night of the murder

Pileggi said Vinci had been drunk on the night of the murder and had pointed a gun at her, telling her she didn’t deserve to live. She said Vinci had chased her through the mansion until he tripped and fell.

The killer claimed that she went back to where Vinci was lying, and still feeling threatened by him, she shot him in the head.

At the time, Pileggi’s attorney, Bruce Udolf, said of his client, “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.”

The prosecution argued that if Pileggi had felt threatened, she should have left the house and dialed 911. The state lawyers also pointed out that her purchase of a large plastic container to be used to dump the body happened before the murder.

The jury was told that Pileggi had numerous opportunities to leave Vinci and that she hadn’t needed to kill him so horrifically.

Catherine Pileggi convicted of killing Ron Vinci

Eventually, a jury found Pileggi guilty of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to 25 years. She has since had an appeal rejected.

Vinci was a self-made man who had made his fortune in motorcycle and car dealerships across California and in Las Vegas. He had moved to Florida to enjoy his retirement by the sea. Friends later told the cops that Vinci had muted that he might end his relationship with Pileggi.

This episode of Snapped re-airs Sunday at 10/9c on Snapped.