Attorney Prepares for Slain Wife's Funeral

AP National News

Attorney Prepares for Slain Wife's Funeral

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer

October 19, 2005, 8:11 PM EDT

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The sight was almost familiar, recalling the crime scene photos of murders that defense attorney Daniel Horowitz has seen so often. This time, it was his own wife.

"She fought back very hard. That was very obvious from the scene," Horowitz said Wednesday. "I saw the wounds to the head that killed her and the rest just looked like a fight that she might have even been winning. That coward needed a weapon to beat her.

"It just looked like a crime scene photo I've seen over and over," said Horowitz, who was widely seen as a cable news commentator during the Scott Peterson murder trial.

Horowitz returned to his rural hilltop estate in the San Francisco suburb of Lafayette on Saturday evening and reported finding the body of his wife, Pamela Vitale. Authorities say she was beaten to death.

On Wednesday, Horowitz visited the home to collect personal items and clothing, worked on his wife's eulogy and sat for interviews, calling his life "a Twilight Zone hell."

Horowitz was in the midst of a murder trial, representing a woman accused of beating and stabbing her husband to death. Just last week during opening statements, he flashed pictures on a screen for jurors of the dead man's bloodied body, pointing out a gash on the top of his head, and his battered and beaten face.

In the wake of the Vitale slaying, a judge declared a mistrial in the case.

Police haven't made an arrest, and have questioned dozens of people, including Horowitz and Joseph Lynch, who lived on the property where Horowitz and his wife were building a 7,000-square-foot estate.

Horowitz had taken out a restraining order against the 54-year-old Lynch, describing him as a drug addict who had harassed the couple, but the order was never served.

Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee has called Lynch a "point of interest."

Recalling the scene from Saturday, Horowitz said he approached the front door of the trailer home where the couple had been living on the property and noticed the door was smeared with something dark.

"At that point I saw her and I just collapsed," he said, adding that she was wearing only underwear and a T-shirt. "The reality hit and I just started screaming ... from the deepest part of my soul, 'My baby, my baby!'

"At this point, there's just hope, and I touch her to see if there's any pulse, even though I know there isn't, but I'm going to do it anyway," he continued.

Horowitz called police, then returned to the body, he said.

"All I remember is just looking at Pamela's face ... "

He paused and sobbed uncontrollably.

Horowitz said he can't imagine who would want his wife dead.

"It had to be somebody who knew us and knew our schedule and our house and our property," he said.

Asked if he thought Lynch could be responsible, Horowitz would only say, "I just want the right person caught." Lynch has denied involvement.


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