Ex-attorney found guilty of killing wife for money

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A disbarred attorney who lived three doors down from Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton in suburban New York was convicted Saturday of murdering his wife in what prosecutors said was an attempt to collect life insurance money.

A Westchester County jury found Carlos Perez-Olivo guilty of second-degree murder. He could get life in prison.

Prosecutors said the troubled lawyer shot his schoolteacher wife, Peggy, in the back of the head as she dozed in their car during a drive to their home in Chappaqua on Nov. 18, 2006.

Perez-Olivo then gave himself a superficial gunshot wound, tossed the weapon into a lake, and called 911 claiming that a carjacker had attacked him and his wife. The 59-year-old said the armed stranger forced him off the road, muscled his way into the car and fired three shots as the two men struggled.

That elaborate claim of innocence failed to convince the jury, which also convicted Perez-Olivo of illegal weapons possession. Prosecutors claimed Perez-Olivo wanted to collect his wife's life insurance, which totaled nearly $900,000.