Pamela phillips biography

TUCSON – A once-prominent socialite has been found guilty in the 1996 Tucson car-bomb killing of her ex-husband after spending years abroad living a lavish lifestyle across Europe.

Pamela Phillips, 56, was convicted April 8 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after less than three days of jury deliberations.

She faces life in prison at her May 22 sentencing hearing.

During the trial, which began in February, Phillips' lawyers told jurors that their client had nothing to gain from the death of businessman Gary Triano and that she was the victim of overzealous authorities who failed to follow other leads.

They said that Phillips was already a successful real-estate broker with her own money and suggested that Triano had numerous other enemies.

But prosecutors described Phillips as a gold digger who hired a former boyfriend to kill Triano to collect on a $2 million life-insurance policy in ord