Ronald Vinci Thought Girlfriend Was Poisoning Him Before His Death, Warrant Says

Broward Sheriff's Office

Catherine Pileggi

​Another variable has been added to the complex equation that is the murder of 70-year-old multimillionaire Ronald Vinci.

What started as a "suspicious death" when Fort Lauderdale cops were called to the scene of his duct-taped body quickly morphed into a stabbing, shooting, throat-slashing, skull-bashing all-in-one murder, followed by the discovery of the Phil Spector angle -- and now allegedly includes attempted poisoning.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by the Sun-Sentinel, Catherine Pileggi -- Vinci's girlfriend, who's now charged with first-degree murder -- may have been attempting to poison Vinci in the days before his brutal death.

Two months before Vinci died, he was hospitalized for abdominal pains, leading him to tell his friends he believed Pileggi was poisoning him, the paper reports.

The warrant didn't explain much more about the poisoning -- and toxicology reports haven't been released -- although the cops reportedly did verify his hospitalization.

Also included in the search warrant, the Sentinel reports that cops recovered a storage container, diving belts, and coffee grounds from Vinci's house, believed by the cops to be a "thought-out plan of getting rid of the body and concealing the odor of the body."

In an arrest affidavit released previously by Fort Lauderdale cops, Pileggi told police she had blamed Vinci for the "sudden" death of her sister, Angela Pileggi Silverstein, on a Caribbean cruise on December 21, 2009.

Angela is believed to have died from a drug overdose, and it hasn't been said why Catherine would blame Vinci for the death.

Pileggi is currently being held in jail without bond, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

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