After avoiding charges for 9 years, man indicted in his wife's grisly 2013 killing
ADDIS - After law enforcement went roughly nine years without charging anyone in a vicious beating that left a woman dead, a grand jury has opted to charge her husband with murder.
"The case was always left open. He never was set completely free from that. They put together a case, and I went over the case. It's rather strong, so my hats off to these detectives who kept grinding and grinding and grinding and found new evidence and found enough to get him indicted," said Tony Clayton, the West Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney.
Eddie Rinaudo was indicted Friday for second-degree murder in the killing. His wife, Sandra Rinaudo, was found dead inside the couple's home in August 2013.
Despite two different coroner's offices declaring Sandra's death a homicide—citing several severe internal injuries—and family members calling for her husband to be prosecuted, no one was formally charged in the killing for years.
Officials said Friday that new detectives taking a fresh look at the case helped reopen the case. That's what led to Rinaudo's indictment Friday.
Sandra's daughter, Ragean Bellelo, told WBRZ on Friday she was grateful for those at the West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office and Addis Police who sought justice for her mother.
Trending News
Rinaudo's charges carry a life sentence if he's convicted.