Murder suspect testifies about bad marriage

Friday, April 9, 2004 | 9:40 a.m.

Alfred "Chip" Centofanti took the witness stand Thursday and tried to explain how his relationship with Virginia "Gina" Eisenman deteriorated to the point where it ended in her shooting death.

Eisenman was found dead in Centofanti's Summerlin home on Dec. 20, 2000. She had four bullet wounds in her upper body and three in her head. The couple's divorce had been finalized only a few days before.

Centofanti's defense is that the shooting was self-defense.

Centofanti testified that there were only hints of trouble in his 27-month courtship and marriage to Eisenman before everything fell apart only a few weeks before he shot her.

It was only in the first days of December that Eisenman changed into a person Centofanti said "did not know," staying out until the early mornings and coming home drunk. And it was only then that Centofanti said he got a glimpse of Eisenman's allegedly violent past.

The couple had been fighting about Eisenman's behavior for a few days when, on Dec. 5, 2000, one argument turned physical in the couple's home, Centofanti said.

Centofanti, who testified he suspected his wife may have been seeing someone else, said he grabbed a ringing phone from Eisenman's hands to see who the caller was. Eisenman lunged for the phone and the two began to wrestle for it, Centofanti said.

Eisenman grabbed Centofanti's collar and then hit him over the head with an item later identified as a picture frame, Centofanti said. He said she then pointed a gun at him.

"At first I froze, but then I ran up to her and tried to grab the gun," Centofanti said. "We were both struggling for the gun."

Centofanti said he believed Eisenman was trying to kill him.

"She pulled the trigger -- the gun went click, click, click," Centofanti testified. "It seemed to click forever."

Metro Police later arrested Eisenman in the domestic dispute. Centofanti said the incident forced him to get a restraining order against Eisenman and a divorce.