But over time, Patrizia criticized her husband about almost everything, often belittling him in public. He said and did nothing until 1985 when he packed a suitcase and said he had to leave immediately on business. The following day, he sent a friend to inform his wife he wasn’t coming back.

Bad marriages don’t generally make good divorces. The couple continued to fight and often put the children in the middle. Before long, observers said, Patrizia’s disdain for Maurizio flared into obsessive hatred. If Maurizio noticed, he didn’t seem to care. He did what many divorced men do: traded his old battleaxe for a younger woman.

Maurizio's new squeeze, Paola Franchi, was long, lean and blonde. Worse, he sold his stake in the company to Investcorp for about $300 million and announced plans to marry his new sweetie. The basic question for Patrizia: Where would she get the gusher of money she'd need to support her lavish lifestyle?

She talked openly of having Maurizio murdered, and even challenged household staff and her lawyer to kill him. She asked around and finally found Benedetto Ceraulo, who murdered Maurizio in 1995 in the stairway of his Milan office.

Investigators quickly built a case against Patrizia. Her defense: Maurizio's murder was arranged by a man wanting to blackmail her. The pathetic tale didn’t fly in court, and she was sentenced to 29 years in prison.