Man Acquitted in Murder of Wife

A court in New York has decided to acquit a wealthy landlord of murdering his wife. Benjamin Odierno was found not guilty by a jury and helped dismiss him from being convicted of second-degree murder charges. The jury's decision is a shocking one because Odierno admits to fatally stabbing his wife multiple times due to an argument between the two.

Benjamin Odierno admits to killing his wife, but claims that it was merely self defense. He described his wife as a woman that he dearly loved with all his heart. They were married for 27 years and for the most part it was joyous. Then his wife had a personality change one day. She started to become bitter and violent towards him and the rest of the family. She even began to use curse words that were not common for her. Her personality changed for the worse and helped create a living condition that became unbearable for anyone.

Odierno said aid he had enjoyed a "marriage made in heaven" until his wife became a volatile and unstable "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." This led to the situation becoming worse for him. One day, his wife began to argue with him and became violent towards him.

He states that he defended himself with a knife. The knife ended up being the tool that killed his wife. What is not talked about is the fact that Ordierno stabbed his wife 40 times and even created self inflicted wounds with the knife. This was so that it could of looked like the big struggle that he described it as.

When the verdict was read in court, Odierno was obviously pleased with the results. "I feel like I've been from heaven to hell and back again. Words cannot express how happy I am," he said. The murder of his 58 year-old wife was highly publicized when it happened. It took several years for the trial to actually reach a court. Court experts felt that Ordierno would not be convicted because of the circumstances and age issue.

Still, the result was very surprising to many involved with the case. Odierno's lawyer, Jack Litman, maintained his client killed his wife in self-defense. "This is a completely nonviolent and generous husband who reacted in a spontaneous moment to a sad, violent moment by his wife," he said.

Sources used for this article:

CNN. "Wealthy landlord cleared of wife's murder." Online Publication.
February 14th, 2007. Internet Article: http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/14/landlord.acquitted.ap/index.html