An Illinois man will face a jury in May 2002, four years after federal prosecutors allege he pushed his wife to her death while hiking in Zion National Park.
James S. Bottarini, 42, of Ottawa, Ill., was indicted in October 2000 on fraud charges for trying to collect more than $1 million on his wife's life insurance policy and other investments after her death in May 1997.
On May 6, 2002, he will begin an estimated weeklong trial on six charges, including wire fraud, making a false statement to a federal investigator and interstate domestic violence.
The federal government does not have jurisdiction to charge Bottarini with homicide in the section of the park where the woman died, but prosecutors say they must establish Bottarini committed murder to prove their case.
According to prosecutors, 36-year-old Patricia Bottarini and her husband were hiking Observation Point Trail, a nearly eight-mile hike that climbs 2,148 feet. Part way up the trail, Bottarini allegedly pushed his wife, causing her to fall to her death.
Federal prosecutors have asked that all members of the jury be physically capable of traveling to the scene and hiking the entire trail.
Bottarini has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Prosecutors are skeptical of Bottarini's claim of an accidental fall because in the 60 years the trail has been open, there was not a single fatal fall before Patricia Bottarini died.