ID’s Deadly Sins: No Forgiveness - What happened to multimillionaire Ron Vinci?

In June 2011, Ron Vinci, a self-made multimillionaire and wealthy former car dealer from Southern California, was found dead in the guest bedroom of his $3 million waterfront property in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The body was wrapped in bed sheets and stuffed into a plastic bag. Reports suggested that he was shot and stabbed multiple times, his throat was slashed, and skull crushed.

Vinci's girlfriend at the time, Catherine Pileggi, confessed to the murder not long after. However, she claimed to be the victim, describing her deceased boyfriend as an abusive man and an alcoholic. Although Pileggi alleged that it was self-defense, she was convicted and sentenced to 25 years.

An upcoming episode of ID's Deadly Sins: No Forgiveness will chronicle Ron Vinci's gruesome murder by his then-girlfriend. The all-new episode titled The Root of All Evil will air this Saturday, February 11, 2023, at 10 pm ET.

The official synopsis of the episode states:

"Multimillionaire Ron Vinci learns that money definitely can't buy him love, so he decides to leave his girlfriend by any means possible; a prosperous accountant falls for a heartbreaker who falls for a rabbi, and the deadly result is no joke."

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Ron Vinci's handyman informed authorities about the incident that occurred at the former's newly-purchased mansion

On the morning of June 27, 2011, Catherine Pileggi was spotted on surveillance footage leaving a Home Depot with a huge plastic container. The following morning, Pileggi informed Ron Vinci's handyman that he died after falling down the stairs and showed him the multimillionaire's bloody body, which was wrapped in bedding.

Pileggi then told the handyman that Vinci always wanted to be buried at sea, suggesting that they carry his body out to sea to fulfill his wish. Instead, the handyman called 911 and told them about everything he had seen. Upon arriving and seeing the body, authorities realized that Vinci's wounds were incompatible with the fall.

According to reports, Ron Vinci suffered nine chest stab wounds in addition to being shot in the head. Moreover, his throat was slashed, and he received multiple, repeated blows to the head, most likely with a hammer that shattered his skull. His brutally mutilated body was covered in bedding and trash bags, which were secured using duct tape.

During her late 2014 trial, Pileggi testified alleging that Vinci wasn't the man everyone believed he was and that she was a victim of domestic violence. Additionally, she claimed that she had endured years of verbal, physical, and s*xual abuse.

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Ron Vinci's then-girlfriend Catherine Pileggi confessed to his murder, claiming that she killed him in self-defense

On the night of the killing, Catherine Pileggi stated that her then-boyfriend, Ron Vinci, pointed a gun at her, which made her fear for life. She further claimed that he had been drinking extensively and said things like, "I didn’t deserve to live." According to her account, Vinci chased her up the stairs when he fell and hit his head. She then assisted him to get into a bed in the first-floor bedroom and cleaned the blood off the steps.

A few hours later, Pileggi found the gun and noticed it was loaded. At that moment, she knew that Vinci could have killed her. She knew everything had changed at the time, as she said:

"like an out-of-body experience. The fear that I had, the anger, all came together. I was afraid. I was mad, like I’ve never been before."

She then walked into the bedroom where he was sleeping and shot him in the head. However, it was alleged that the brutality of the incident made it look far from self-defense, given that the victim was lying in bed defenseless when she shot him. She later went to the laundry room to fetch a hammer and the kitchen for a knife.

Catherine Pileggi was found guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm and was sentenced to 25 years in prison in former wealthy boyfriend Ron Vinci's murder case.