Relatives of woman who fell off cliff sues husband in Calif court

SAN DIEGO (AP) The family of a woman who died after falling off a cliff in Zion National Park filed a civil suit against her husband, who was accused of killing her but was acquitted in November.

The suit filed Monday in Superior Court asserts that James Bottarini killed his 36-year-old wife, Patricia, during a trip to Utah's Zion National Park in May 1997. Family members also want to deny Bottarini from a million-dollar share of their business, Tobo Investment Partnership, which is based in Carlsbad.

Bottarini, 43, was accused of pushing his wife over a 500-foot cliff because he stood to gain $1.25 million between a life insurance policy and inheritance, prosecutors said. He claims that his wife died after she stumbled and fell down a cliff while walking along the edge of a trail.

A Utah jury acquitted him of wire fraud, lying to a federal officer and interstate spousal abuse in connection with his wife's death.

Bottarini, who lives in Illinois, was not charged with murder because the state maintains jurisdiction over crimes committed inside the park. In order to prove the six federal counts of fraud and interstate domestic violence, government prosecutors needed to show that Bottarini deliberately killed his wife.

A prosecutor in St. George, Utah, said recently that his office is reviewing the case but has not decided whether to file charges in state court.

Family members claim that ``a preponderance of the evidence against James clearly demonstrates that he killed Patricia and that the killing was felonious and intentional,'' the suit alleges.

Juries in California civil cases don't have to come to an unanimous decision to render a verdict, and the family doesn't have to meet the rigorous ``beyond a reasonable doubt'' standard of proof required as in criminal cases.

Patricia and James Bottarini met in San Diego and lived for several years in communities north of downtown before moving to New Jersey, where they were living when she died.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)