Wife Charged With Arranging Husband's 1979 Murder
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The wife of a commodities broker gunned down in 1979 inside his upscale northwest suburban home has been charged with arranging his murder—a killing Cook County authorities contend was prompted by a failing marriage, the Sun-Times is reporting.
Jacquelyn Greco, now 66, was ordered held without bond Wednesday after being charged with the murder of her then-husband, Carl Gaimari, a 34-year-old commodities dealer at the Chicago Board of Trade.
He was shot to death inside the couple's Inverness home on April 30, 1979, in what police said then was an apparent home invasion by two masked gunman.
Greco and three of the couple's children were locked in a bedroom closet by the gunmen, who then ambushed and killed Gaimari when he returned home about 1:30 p.m., Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Ethan Holland said during Greco's bond hearing.
The intruders grabbed two guns inside the home and used those to kill Gaimari, Holland said.
Gaimari's 13-year-old daughter returned to the house later and discovered her father's body in the basement, Holland said.
A year before the slaying, Greco allegedly approached an acquaintance and said she wanted to "get rid" of her husband, then asked about obtaining drugs that could disguise a death as a fatal heart attack, Holland said.
Greco allegedly said she wanted her husband killed so she would inherit all of the couple's financial assets, Holland said in court.
Greco was having an extramarital affair at the time, Holland said.
In early 1979, Greco allegedly told another acquaintance that she and her lover had concocted a plan to disguise Giamari's murder as a home invasion, including stealing some items to make the break-in look authentic, Holland said.
Inverness police and the state's attorney's office began looking at the killing again in February 2012 and later tapped a phone call in which Greco allegedly discussed her plan to have her husband killed.
Greco was arrested in March in Iron County, Mich., but fought extradition, delaying her return to Illinois until Tuesday.
Her court-appointed attorney, Salvatore Spaccaferro, declined to comment.
In a baffling twist, one of Gaimari's business associates vanished days after the murder and was declared legally dead in 1986—only to resurface again under an assumed name in 2011.
Arthur Jones, then 72, was arrested that year in Las Vegas and charged with identity theft and fraud, according to media reports.
Prosecutors wouldn't comment on whether Jones' disappearance was linked to Gaimari's murder.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
