A wealthy businessman convinced his dominatrix lover to find someone to kill his wife of nearly 40 years – prompting the whip-wielding woman to seek out her hitman ex-lover to carry out the kill, court heard Friday.
Dominatrix Sandra Rinella sought out her former lover, burly 6-foot-4, 350-pound ex-con Kerry Bob Anderson, for the murder job. However, Anderson said he never intended to finish the job. Instead, he testified Friday, he was only trying to juice as much money out of businessman Alexander Petraitis as he could before making a run for Mexico.
"I gave my word as a man that I would do it. I would kill his wife," testified Anderson. "He knew I had been in jail. And in jail, your word is all you have got. So I said it, thinking he might take it more seriously."
That conversation took place in the Toronto office of a magazine distribution company in early January 2004, with Petraitis – who’s the former owner of the Metro News company – inquiring why Anderson had not carried out his end of an alleged business deal, despite already receiving tens of thousands of dollars in upfront money.
Anderson was arrested a few days later along with Petraitis and Rinella.
Petraitis, 68, and Rinella, 47, are each charged with conspiracy to commit murder and of counselling Anderson to kill Kirsten Petraitis, now the multimillionaire’s ex-wife. They are on trial in Ontario Superior Court.
"This case is primarily about three people: a wealthy married businessman, his mistress and the man that they hired to carry out a murder," said Crown attorney Suhal Akhtar in his opening statement.
The trial began Friday with testimony from Anderson – the Crown’s star witness, a "hitman" with a criminal record dating back nearly 30 years, including a 1991 conviction for manslaughter that stemmed from a dispute over a drug debt.
As he outlined his involvement in the alleged murder plot, Anderson insisted he never planned to kill the wife of Petraitis. Instead, he was trying to extort as much money as possible from the businessman.
"What was your intent," asked co-prosecutor Kim Motyl.
"To pay bills. To go to Mexico," replied Anderson. "I was going to ignore the situation, hoping it would go away," the former Hells Angels associate explained in reference to the murder plot.
Anderson admitted he repeatedly asked for more money and the jury heard he received about $100,000 in payments from August 2003 until his arrest.
The Crown witness pleaded guilty to attempted extortion and is now on parole.
Anderson testified he and Rinella were a couple from 1995 to 2000 and maintained "sporadic" contact. In August 2003, Rinella first discussed the plan to kill Petraitis’s wife.
The trial resumes Monday.
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