Zakouto trial may send a message on domestic violence

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.

After watching a videotape of Marina Cannon unsuccessfully begging a Family Court judge to keep her estranged husband, Vitaly Zakouto, from killing her, jurors took less than two hours Thursday to decide that Zakouto should spend the rest of his life in prison.

In December 2000, one month after the video was taped, Cannon, 49, was murdered by Zakouto in her home, the jury had found Wednesday.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said he was "delighted" by the jury's decisions and he hopes they send a message about domestic violence in Clark County.

"The case certainly taught me a lot about domestic violence," he said. "It's often hard to recognize these situations for what they are. If this verdict causes people to think about this cycle of domestic violence, then it will have done some good."

However, some of the people who need to reflect on this case, according to the victim's son, Jason Jaeger, are those who work within the criminal justice system -- police and court officials who might have been able to prevent Cannon's murder.

As a result of his mother's slaying and the way the system failed her, Jaeger founded Stop Domestic Violence, a local nonprofit organization that monitors court proceedings to ensure that domestic violence laws are being enforced.

There had been no such organization to help Cannon in November 2000 when she pleaded with Family Court Judge Art Ritchie to put Zakouto in jail for violating a restraining order she'd obtained against Zakouto after he began stalking her.

Cannon, who described Zakouto as a methamphetamine user who was also bipolar, told Ritchie she feared Zakouto's behavior would quickly escalate into violence if something was not done.

"You have to stop him," she said. "If you don't stop him, the outcome is preordained."

Ritchie said he could not put Zakouto in jail because Cannon had not proved her allegations.

"The answer to your question is that no court will protect you," he told her. "If (Zakouto) ignores court orders, there is nothing more I can do for you. What you have to do is protect yourself."

Prosecutors played the taped Family Court proceedings during the penalty phase of Zakouto's murder trial before District Judge Joseph Pavlikowski.

During the trial, prosecutors had painted a picture of a tumultuous marriage that turned violent when Cannon filed for a divorce. They claimed Zakouto had stalked Cannon for six months prior to her death and had threatened to kill her and himself if she did not come back to him.

Jaeger said he hoped Zakouto would accept responsibility for the murder, calling such a statement "the best thing that I can hope for. A statement would be the adult and responsible thing to do."

But it appears unlikely that Jaeger will get what he wants from Zakouto.

Defense attorney William Terry had maintained that Zakouto was innocent, saying the state had no forensic evidence and had not proved its theory. Terry said he plans to appeal the verdict.

Oran Moore, Zakouto's son, described his father as a compassionate man who cared for Cannon deeply.

"I know how much my father loved Marina," he said. "And I know how much she loved him."

Moore, 25, had begged jurors to sentence Zakouto to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years, the most lenient sentence. Zakouto cried as he watched his son make his plea.

"There was a lot of bashing on my father and things that didn't need to be said," Moore said. "But I will be there for my father until the day he dies."

Terry alleged that Cannon wasn't afraid of Zakouto as prosecutors claimed, and that she'd even invited him to her home.

But Cannon's will, which Jaeger read during his testimony, suggested otherwise.

If Cannon died of natural causes, her family was to forgo a funeral and cremate her body. If she was murdered, however, her family was instructed to hold a public funeral in order to "bring to light domestic violence," the document stated.

Instead of flowers, Cannon requested that her loved ones make donations to Safe Nest, a nonprofit organization that assists victims of domestic violence in Clark County.

"Tell the women what happened to me," Cannon wrote. "Tell the world what happened to me. ... If I have died of suspicious circumstances, Vitaly did it."