The Contract Murder of Kathryn Ann Martini-Lissy

Lissy's ex-wife, who had also been the bookkeeper for his scuba business, testified that Lissy spent large sums of money on prostitutes. She said that Lissy told her he had a strong sexual appetite that required unusual, sadistic and group sexual acts, and that he had continued to use the services of prostitutes after his marriage to Kathryn. His ex-wife told the jury that Lissy had asked her to underreport his sales income by $5,000 in June and $2,000 in July.

According to the ex-wife, Lissy had married Kathryn because his attempts to obtain a loan through her banking connections had failed. There was a catch to the marriage, she said.

"If he married Kathy," she testified, "Kathy's father would give him a loan, and that's why he had to marry her."

The ex-wife claimed that Lissy had promised to remarry her after he obtained the money he needed to save his failing business.

She told the jury that in August 1984, before his arrest but after he knew the cops were onto him, Lissy had offered to pay her for favorable testimony in court.

"He said that I was the only one who could nail him," she said. "He said his attorney had told him there was enough circumstantial evidence to convict him...he offered me $10,000 to make him look nice."

Before Lissy's ex-wife finished her testimony, she told the court about a piece of paper that she had found. Lissy, she said, had asked her to destroy it.

"I thought it connected Michael Lissy with the murderit was Kathy's room number," she said. She said that she had told the police about the piece of paper.