GRETNA -- A former New Orleans television and radio broadcaster booked with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife made his first, brief public statements Monday following a court appearance.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office

The booking photo of radio talk-show host Vince Marinello.

"I do not intend to try my case, or defend myself, or attempt to defend myself, in the media," Vince Marinello told reporters following a status hearing before a court commissioner at the Jefferson Parish courthouse.

"I'll have my day in court," he added. "I'll have my statement before a judge and a jury of 12 people."

As he walked to a car with his lawyer, he ignored questions about whether he killed his wife, Mary Elizabeth Marinello.

Marinello, 69, was arrested Sept. 7 on second-degree murder charges. Mary Elizabeth Marinello, 45, was shot twice in the face on Aug. 31 in the parking lot of a building in the affluent Old Metairie neighborhood, a New Orleans suburb in Jefferson Parish. She died the next day.

Authorities initially thought the shooting was an armed robbery gone bad. But Sheriff Harry Lee said examination of a security surveillance videotape convinced investigators that Mary Elizabeth Marinello was the victim of a planned attack.

Lee said Marinello disguised himself as a scruffy man and rode a bicycle to the parking lot of a building where he knew his wife was attending a regularly scheduled appointment.

Marinello remains free on $250,000 bond.

A former television sportscaster, he most recently had been hosting talk shows on WWL radio dealing with the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. His wife was a respiratory therapist at Children's Hospital.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office presented its case against Marinello to the district attorney earlier this month. The case is expected to go before a grand jury soon.

The office of District Attorney Paul Connick Jr. said another status hearing will be held on Dec. 7.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)