Wendi Elizabeth Andriano

[Michael]

Date of Birth: Aug. 26, 1970

Wendi Andriano's husband became seriously ill and had to cease working. Allegedly resentful of her responsibilities, Wendi Andriano began frequenting bars and engaging in extramarital affairs.
 
As her discontent increased, she hatched a scheme to kill her husband and profit from his death. She asked her friends if they would pose as her husband so that she could obtain a life insurance policy. She researched the effects of various poisons and how to obtain them discreetly. Andriano ordered poison and had it sent to a separate business.

Andriano began slipping sodium azide capsules to her husband. In the early morning hours of October 8, 2000, Andriano called 911 to report that her husband was having a heart attack, but when paramedics arrived, she turned them away.

Several hours later, she again called 911 to report that she had stabbed and beaten him in self-defense. When paramedics arrived, they found Joe Andriano dead from repeated beatings and a stab wound to the neck. Weak from the poisoning and chemotherapy, he was unable to defend himself against Andriano, who struck him at least 20 times with a barstool before stabbing him in the neck.

Although Andriano claimed that she was physically and psychologically abused by her husband, none of her friends ever observed any signs of abuse.

Trial

Convicted: Nov. 18, 2004.

Sentenced to death: Dec. 22, 2004.

Aggravating Circumstances

Especially heinous, cruel or depraved

Source

Arizona Department of Corrections

http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special32/articles/0302andriano-CR.html

[turboprinz]

some info including video and docments can be found here:
http://supremestateaz.granicus.com/ViewSearchResults.php?view_id=2&keywords=Andriano

[JTiscool]

Saw this on an episode of Investigation Discoveries Deadly women. Anyone have an idea of where she is in her appeals?

This is the latest I could find on it.

Az high court upholds death sentence of husband-killer
by The Associated Press on Jul. 09, 2007, under Local, Special


The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death sentence of an woman convicted of killing her cancer-stricken husband.

The court rejected 11 separate arguments raised by lawyers for Wendi Andriano, 36, in an effort to have her first-degree murder conviction and death sentence overturned.

Andriano was convicted in the Oct. 8, 2000, death of her husband, Joe Andriano, who was terminally ill with cancer. The couple lived in the Phoenix community of Ahwatukee.

During the trial, the prosecutor Martinez characterized Andriano as a greedy, cheating wife who killed her cancer-stricken husband in a “shockingly evil” way.

Martinez alleged Wendi Andriano tried to pass off her husband’s death as a heart attack to get money from a malpractice lawsuit.

Joe Andriano was struck in the head at least 23 times and stabbed in the neck. Investigators also found pesticide in his stomach and evidence that his wife had been trying to poison him for a substantial period.

Wendi Andriano testified for nine days in her own defense and claimed she had been battered by her husband. She said he flew into a rage when she told him she had an affair and the two got into a struggle with a knife.

In her appeal, Wendi Andriano claimed that evidence of her affairs and efforts to buy life insurance policies for her ailing husband unfairly prejudiced her in front of the jury. She also argued that the jury should have been allowed to consider the lesser crimes of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

She raised questions about the jury’s deliberations during the penalty phase, when it appeared deadlocked and the judge offered to answer legal questions to help them reach a decision, saying the judge’s actions were jury coercion.

And she claimed the state’s method of execution by lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution because exact drug doses and potential problems with the technique are not spelled out in the law.

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous 39-page opinion, rejected all in turn.

Andriano is one of only two women on Arizona’s death row.

source: http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue/2007/07/09/56910-az-high-court-upholds-death-sentence-of-husband-killer/