ADDIS - For nine years, Eddie Rinaudo managed to get away with murder.

One decade ago, the WBRZ Investigative Unit profiled the story of Sandy Rinaudo and her murder on Aug. 9, 2013. Despite a coroner noting that her death was a homicide, the Addis Police Department refused to investigate it as one.

Fast-forward nine years, and new detectives took a look at the case, leading to Eddie Rinaudo's arrest for second-degree murder in 2022. He was held on a $1 million bond and jailed one year ago.

On Wednesday, the tenth anniversary of his wife's murder, Eddie died in jail as he awaited trial. His daughter said she received a call and was told that he suffered from some sort of lung complication due to a recent stroke.

"Yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of my mother's murder, and on that very same day her murderer — my father — passed away," the victim's daughter Ragean Rinaudo said.

WBRZ first interviewed Rinaudo almost a year ago as she continued her fight for justice.

See the interview at 6:00 on WBRZ

It started with a frantic call to 911 came in the middle of the night from a home in Addis. Sandy Rinaudo was pronounced dead inside. The West Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office removed her body, and the pathologist who conducted her autopsy said her injuries were consistent with a savage beating. Sandra Rinaudo's ribs were fractured, her pancreas split in half, and she had a broken nose.

Cold case detectives reopened the investigation last year.

"Zack Simmers, he was able to have my mom's case looked at again," Rinaudo said. "Glenn Henagan, who worked the case, and also the district attorney's office, Tony Clayton. They saw everything I saw."

Rinaudo was preparing to go to trial in hopes that her dad would be convicted for murdering her mom, until she received the call yesterday.

"Those nine years were horrible," Rinaudo said. "I knew he had killed my mom. It was unbearable honestly, knowing that my mom was no longer here and he was a free man."

Rinaudo said she's now at peace.

"I do feel relief," Rinaudo said. "I feel relief for my family that this will now be put to rest, and we don't have to deal with this anymore."