James Bottarini sat in front of a packed federal courtroom Friday afternoon and flatly denied pushing his wife to her death in Zion National Park more than five years ago.
"I did not kill my wife," the 43-year-old Ottawa, Ill., man said. "There's no possible way that I would want my wife dead. I'm just sick and tired of people asking me that."
Bottarini spent nearly four hours on the stand Friday, speaking frankly about the life and death of his 36-year-old wife, Patricia. The testimony wraps up Bottarini's three-week trial on charges he killed his wife in exchange for $1.25 million in life insurance and real-estate holdings.
On direct examination, Bottarini was mostly controlled but became emotional at times. His voice choked while reading jurors the script of a Halloween card he gave his wife, while talking about his children and again as he recounted his shock at finding his wife's body.
"I tried to pray to God as much as I could that she would all of a sudden come right back," he said. "It was really hard . . . My best friend wasn't like I remembered her moments earlier."
Bottarini said it was "frustrating" to keep going over and over the details of his wife's death, something he estimated he's done "a thousand or more times" since May 9, 1997.
He appeared to grow even more frustrated under cross-examination by U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul Warner. He became admittedly angry as Warner repeatedly, and sarcastically, referred to Patricia as his "beloved, departed wife."
Bottarini also accused Warner of "nitpicking," making insinuations and expecting him to remember even the most minute details.
"You just heard two and a half weeks of testimony," Bottarini said. "It's ridiculous to expect me to recall all of it."
Warner went over much of that testimony Friday, pointing out numerous discrepancies in the stories Bottarini told family, friends and authorities after Patricia's death.
From the stand, Bottarini recalled for jurors his wife's fatal fall.
On May 9, 1997, the Bottarinis rose around 9 a.m., ate breakfast and set off to hike the 4-mile Observation Point trail. About three-quarters to the top, they stopped for a snack and turned around after deciding they were too tired to continue.
Bottarini said he was ahead of his wife — anywhere between 16 and 30 feet, according to previous testimony — fiddling with his backpack when he heard a noise. He has described the noise in a number of ways, from sliding and stumbling to hearing his name.
He didn't pin down the exact nature of the sound on Friday. "Something had alerted me to turn around, whether she had called me or whatever."
Bottarini said he turned to see his wife lying face down on the sloped ledge. She appeared to have caught herself and was scrambling to get back up when she lost her footing and disappeared from sight before he could get to her.
"She was sliding down. There was nowhere for her to stop," he said.
The entire situation lasted only about two seconds, Bottarini said.
The two were avid climbers and hikers, and Bottarini said it wasn't unusual for his wife to get close to a cliff and look over the edge. However, others have testified Patricia had an extreme fear of heights and never would have ventured that close.
Warner returned to that point many times Friday, clearly upsetting Bottarini with his questions.
"Once again we're getting back into this fear of heights. You've made such a huge deal out of this," Bottarini said. "I think this is all relative. She was uncomfortable with heights at times. There was no question about it."
Bottarini also talked about issues that have come up repeatedly throughout the three-week trial, including allegations that he was a high-stakes gambler whose frequent junkets upset his wife.
He admitted to traveling often to Las Vegas while he lived in California — 53 times between 1990 and 1994 — but said Patricia accompanied him on at least half of the trips. His brother, Joseph, testified Friday he went to Vegas with Bottarini at least 10 times.
Bottarini said he only played games with a low house advantage, such as craps, for which he had a system that usually netted enough gain to cover his airfare and lodging.
"I liked to believe I took the gambling out of gambling," he said.
Prosecutors have have also alleged Bottarini gambled in his professional life as a commodities trader.
Although he lost more than $73,000 between January 1995 and April 1997, Bottarini denied Friday he was having financial difficulties in 1997. He accused prosecutors of "trying to sway the jury that that was the situation. It was not true at all."
Besides, he said, money wasn't something that mattered to either him or his wife. In fact, under intense questioning from Warner, Bottarini was unable to recall a $100,000 payment in February 1995 from the estate of Patricia's father.
Friends and family have testified that although the Bottarinis had plenty of money — both came from well-to-do families — they didn't live a flamboyant lifestyle.
"I'm not materialistic and one of the reasons I loved Patty so much is that she wasn't materialistic," he said, adding his wife often described him as a "cheapskate."
Bottarini also disputed evidence from Patricia's family and friends that he was a controlling husband who had "rules" for his wife's appearance and behavior.
Closing arguments in the case are scheduled for Monday morning, and jurors will begin deliberating that afternoon.
Though he is not charged with murder, which the federal government lacks the jurisdiction to do, prosecutors must prove Bottarini killed his wife in order to make their case on four counts of wire fraud, one of making false statements to an officer and one of interstate domestic violence, a charge that carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
E-mail: awelling@desnews.com