Prosecutor says 'Jerry Springer' guest was beaten to death

SARASOTA, Fla. -- A man went on trial Monday for allegedly murdering his ex-wife hours after they and another woman appeared on a "Jerry Springer Show" episode about secret mistresses.

Ralf Panitz beat and stomped Nancy Campbell-Panitz, leaving her so disfigured that a sheriff's deputy who recently had met her could not identify her, prosecutor Charlie Roberts said in his opening statement.

But defense attorney Geoffrey Fieger told the jury that Panitz was drunk and had passed out the day of the crime, and suggested that Panitz's nephew was the more likely assailant.

In an episode taped in May 2000, Panitz, 42, and Campbell-Panitz, 52, appeared along with Panitz's new wife, Eleanor. The segment was titled "Secret Mistresses Confronted" and featured their contentious love triangle.

The show aired July 24, 2000, -- the same day authorities say Campbell-Panitz was killed in her Sarasota home. Earlier that day, a judge had ordered Ralf Panitz to get out of the house after his ex-wife claimed she feared him.

The couple had been divorced since 1999 but continued living together off and on, even after Ralf Panitz secretly married Eleanor in March 2000.

According to court records, Eleanor Panitz believed if Nancy Campbell-Panitz was publicly confronted with their marriage, she would leave them alone.

Ralf and Eleanor Panitz and his grown nephew, Markus Panitz, watched the segment from a neighborhood bar and drank heavily, according to court records. Detectives contend the group then left the bar for Nancy Campbell-Panitz's house, where Ralf Panitz beat and stomped her to death. Ralf Panitz was the only one charged.

Fieger said Panitz was so drunk from downing beer and rum-and-cokes that he couldn't even stand at the bar, much less commit murder.

Ralf Panitz could get life in prison if convicted.

Fieger, who plans to call Springer as a witness, is the Michigan lawyer best known for defending suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian and suing the "Jenny Jones Show" over the shooting death of a male guest who confided a crush on another man.