Lafayette - Not only was the rocky relationship between Marinello and his wife a focus at the trial Wednesday, but jurors also heard about the relationship between them and Liz’s ex-husband, Peter Caruso, as the Marinellos tried to work their way -- battle their way -- through a pending divorce, as Lafayette jurors got a glimpse of the tangled marriage between Vince and his late wife, Liz.

Prosecutors began the day questioning Caruso, who gave the jury more details about an alleged fight between the Marinellos that left Vince scratched and Liz arrested on misdemeanor battery charges weeks before her murder.

Caruso testified that he told detectives at the time of Liz’s arrest that, “The scratches were similar to what you experienced with Liz.”

Caruso was questioned by defense attorneys about past allegations of Liz Marinello abusing their daughter and a custody battle that was ongoing shortly before Liz Marinello was killed. He petitioned for custody shortly before Liz’s murder, but Liz had also complained about Caruso yelling at her during custody disputes. In fact, she tape recorded one phone conversation with Caruso.

Caruso testified that he also talked to Vince Marinello twice on the phone on the day of the murder and that Vince was "venting" about a birthday gift that Liz made her daughter return that had come from Vince Marinello.

“He was outraged that Liz wouldn’t let (her daughter) keep the bear and had to return it to the neighbor,” said Caruso.

Later, the director of the Jefferson Parish technology department played video of Vince Marinello in the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office on the day he filed abuse charges against Liz Marinello. Vince Marinello was scene pacing around. The charges were filed on August 2, 2006, the same month in which Liz Marinello was shot and killed.

Jurors also heard about another twist in the marriage from Liz’s divorce attorney Gwendolyn Hanhart. “I just thought the sheriff’s department needed to know about the pending family law litigation,” she said outside the courthouse.

Hanhart told detectives the Marinello’s pending divorce contained allegations that had not become public: that Vince Marinello was still married to his second wife when he married Liz in 2004.

Hanhart remembers telling Liz about the bigamy allegations. “Liz was a very gentle type of person, so she was very soft-spoken. She was not the kind of person, in my experience with her, to rant and rave, but I could tell she was shaken about my conversation with her.”

Jefferson Parish Assistant District Attorney David Wolff handled Marinello’s waffling on whether to charge Liz with battery. He testified that Marinello frantically called him in the days before Liz’s murder, concerned that she may file false complaints against him. He was so panicked he asked Wolff if prosecutors ever dealt with mothers having their kids make false molestation allegations.

Several other people took the stand as well during the day of testimony, including one of Marinello’s former coworkers at WWL Radio. Also on the stand was an employee of a car dealership, where Marinello allegedly got access to a car that was later found with gun powder residue.      

Vince Marinello is charged with donning a disguise and laying in wait before shooting and killing Liz Marinello as she came out of a Metairie office building following an appointment.

The trial had been moved to Lafayette due to pre-trial publicity.