New Orleans Sportscaster Charged in Wife's Death

Vince Marinello

Writing in his regular op-ed column in the Times-Picayune on September 10, acerbic columnist James Gill began by opining, "Vince Marinello should have added one more item to his to-do: DESTROY THIS LIST, STUPID." Gill went on to say, "Nobody who knows Vince Marinello regards him as a towering intellect, but he couldn't possibly be this dumb. He must have wanted to get caught. . . . A man intent on killing his wife is unlikely to be so absent-minded that he needs to remind himself to buy bullets. Marinello was just making it easy for the cops."

Marinello, Gill continued, "seems to have done everything possible to leave a trail of evidence before the murder." And, with so many other clues and witnesses available to investigators, Gill concluded that Marinello's "goose probably would have been cooked even if detectives had not found the to-do list. But Marinello evidently wanted to make sure."

In his online OFF/beat column for WashingtonPost.com, Emil Steiner included Marinello among his top nominees in the "Profiles in Stupid" category of his "Idiot of the Year" annual balloting for 2006. "Nobody suspected New Orleans sports commentator Vince Marinello of murdering his wife until, that is, police uncovered a 'to-do' list inside his Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer, allegedly outlining a hit and the disguise necessary to appear like the person for whom cops had been looking. He should ask Santa for a paper shredder," Steiner wrote.

In the voting, Marinello received close to 11% of the total votes cast.