A Broward jury took about two hours Friday to find Juan Minelli guilty of first-degree murder in the brutal killing of his wife, a former American Gladiators champion.
Minelli, 37, a onetime pro boxer, sighed when he heard the verdict.
His attorney had argued that he killed Cheryl Wilson-Minelli in a jealous rage because he suspected she was having an affair with another woman.
But Minelli’s real motive was that he knew his marriage was ending and he wanted to be sure that his wife would not get custody of their 3-year-old daughter, said prosecutor Peter Magrino.
“I figured, if she’s not going to be with me, she’s not going to be with her, either, and I’m going to make sure of that,” Minelli said in a taped statement to police that jurors heard on Thursday.
Wilson-Minelli suffered a brutal attack by her husband at their Oakland Park home late on the night of March 3, 1997, the prosecutor said.
A 1984 Northeast High graduate, Wilson-Minelli was a highly decorated track and field star and a onetime Olympic hopeful. She was the 1993 grand champion of the popular TV sports challenge show, American Gladiators, using the stage name Jasmine.
Although she was in good physical shape, Wilson-Minelli was no match for her bigger and heavier husband, an expert witness told the jury.
Even Minelli said he knew he would win the physical fight he started with his wife when she returned home two hours late. Almost immediately after the fight began, Minelli decided to kill her, he told police.
He said he used about four different knives to stab her and then beat her with a hammer, inflicting seven blows to her head. Their daughter witnessed at least some of the fatal attack.
At one point, Wilson-Minelli managed to run out into the darkened back yard as she desperately tried to escape the violence. Minelli followed her out and tried to choke her.
A neighbor came outside when she saw Wilson-Minelli lying on the ground and heard her calling for help in a weak voice that she likened to a cat’s meow. She testified that Minelli told her his wife was not feeling well and he had called an ambulance.
Minelli grabbed his wife under her armpits and dragged her along the ground back into the house. The neighbor went back to bed.
Minelli stabbed his wife some more and then beat her with the hammer, he confessed. When he was convinced his wife was dead, he took a shower to wash off the blood and called his parents in California to ask if they would send him enough money so that he could leave the country.
His parents refused to help him flee and advised him to turn himself in, so he called 911 and confessed to the murder.
Minelli also told police he had been thinking about killing his wife on and off for about three years. He had even thought about using a barbell to kill her while she was training with weights so that it would look like an accident, he said.
Defense attorney Sharon Kegereiss emphasized Minelli’s jealousy and suspicion that his wife was involved with another woman.
She argued that the killing was a crime of passion, and Minelli could not control his rage at the time.
Kegereiss asked the jurors to consider finding Minelli guilty of a lesser crime such as second-degree murder.
The jury of 10 men and two women will return in May to make a recommendation about whether Minelli should get the death penalty.
The final decision on sentencing lies with Broward Circuit Court Judge Daniel True Andrews.
Wilson-Minelli’s parents, who now have custody of their granddaughter, said they were relieved by the verdict.
“I figure that everybody did an excellent job and took care of the situation,” said Woodrow Wilson, the victim’s father.
Asked about the defense’s trial strategy, he said, “I really didn’t buy any of that.”
Paula McMahon can be reached at or 954-356-4533.
