A man accused of slaying his wife, an MSU graduate student, is set to learn his fate this morning in Ingham County Circuit Court.
Chief Judge Peter Houk is expected at 11:30 a.m. to decide whether Dennis Michael Salerno is guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Michelle Rizzi Salerno. Prosecutors say Dennis Salerno, 32, strangled his wife in her East Lansing apartment in July 2000 and buried her body in an Ohio landfill at Bowling Green State University.
The trial began Aug. 19 before a gallery of at least 20 onlookers. Salerno faces life in prison if found guilty. He waived his right to a jury trial.
Defense attorney David Merchant said pictures taken of Dennis Salerno about a week after he was questioned about his wife’s June 2000 disappearance show no scratches on his body. Merchant argued Monday the lack of a sign of struggle proves Dennis Salerno couldn’t have killed his wife.
“If your trying to kill someone, they are going to fight back,” Merchant said. “You’re going to claw my face. Dennis Salerno was arrested eight days later and there wasn’t a mark on him.”
But Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor Sam Smith said marks were not left because Michelle Salerno had stubs for nails. Smith called Patricia Rizzi, Michelle Salerno’s mother, back to the stand Monday to testify her daughter was a “habitual nail-biter.”
Dennis Salerno is serving a 22-year-to-life sentence for the murder of Larry McClanahan. Salerno said McClanahan killed his wife, and he killed McClanahan in revenge.
Thomas Huff, Salerno’s former jailmate, testified Friday that Dennis Salerno told him on multiple occasions he killed McClanahan because his wife found out he and McClanahan were involved in a sexual relationship.
Huff was released on probation in exchange for giving Ohio prosecutors information about Michelle Salerno’s death.
Other evidence presented by Merchant showed phone calls from Michelle Salerno’s house to the home of Fred McClanahan, a relative of Larry McClanahan.
Smith said there is no way to determine who made the calls to Fred McClanahan. Smith said Dennis Salerno claims he was in class and Michelle Salerno made the calls.
The body of Michelle Salerno, who was 26 when she was reported missing, was found at the landfill in April 2001 wearing a T-shirt and underwear. The casual clothes she was found leads Investigators to believe she was killed at home, Smith said.
Smith said all the evidence points toward Dennis Salerno’s guilt. He said Dennis Salerno’s fingerprints are on a personal protection order Michelle Salerno wrote the night she disappeared, and the papers were found in his storage shed.
Dennis Salerno also used an assumed name to take a bus from Toledo to Detroit to Lansing from June 30 to July 1, 2000, Smith said.
MSU geology Professor Thomas Vogel also testified soil found on Michelle Salerno’s body matched dirt found on Dennis Salerno’s shoes, although neither sample matched soil at the Ohio landfill where her body was found.
But Merchant said Dennis Salerno is an easy target for investigators because of the couple’s often rocky relationship.
“Jerk does not equal murderer,” Merchant said during his opening statement Aug. 19. “Jerk does not mean Dennis Salerno killed his wife.”
Merchant said it’s not unusual Dennis Salerno’s fingerprint was on his wife’s car window. He also said there were no signs of any struggle or blood in her apartment or car.
Merchant has said he doesn’t think investigators can prove where Michelle Salerno was killed, and therefore the case is not being handled in the proper jurisdiction.
“I think what was important was not necessarily what the witnesses said but what the witnesses didn’t say,” Merchant said. “And not what the evidence showed, but what it didn’t show.”
Alison Barker can be reached at barkera6@msu.edu.
