New trial date set in DuPont case

A new trial is scheduled for Jan. 10 for the man whose trial in the alleged murder-for-hire slaying of a woman ended Monday in a mistrial because of juror misconduct.

The mistrial apparently saved Joseph Balignasa a conviction on murder charges in the strangulation death of 45-year-old Patricia Margello, the drug-using girlfriend of a junior heir to the du Pont chemical fortune.

The jury was in its third day of deliberations Monday when court officials learned that information gathered over the weekend had been brought into the jury room by three different jurors contrary to explicit directions by District Judge John McGroarty.

Jurors can only consider evidence and information presented at a trial to reach their verdict under the law.

At the time, the jurors were split in their opinion of the case, but all were committed to convicting Balignasa for his role in the slaying. Nine were favoring second-degree murder while the remaining three wanted to convict the defendant of first-degree murder, according to attorneys in the case.

Prior to trial, prosecutors had offered to let Balignasa plead guilty to being an accessory to the murder in a plea bargain that would have required him to testify at the federal court trial of three others accused in the slaying.

That crime carried a maximum sentence of two to five years in prison. Even a second-degree murder conviction would have kept Balignasa in prison for 20 years before he would have been eligible for parole.

In a statement to Metro Police after his arrest, Balignasa denied knowing the murder was to occur in a seedy downtown motel that shows porno videos and rents rooms in three-hour blocks.

Although his belt was used to kill the woman, Balignasa said he was ordered to turn over his belt by his friend, Ricardo Murillo, 37, and did so out of fear.

In addition to Murillo, federal charges are pending against Diana Hironaga, 40, and Christopher Moseley, 57, over what prosecutors have said was supposed to be a simple murder to prevent another social embarrassment for the du Pont family.

He has been the husband for the last eight years of Lisa Dean Moseley, a direct descendent of the founder of the DuPont company.

Koot had told the jury at Balignasa's trial that a few thousand dollars changed hands for the slaying of Margello a part-time prostitute who was Dean MacGuigan's girlfriend and, potentially, his new wife. MacGuigan is Lisa Dean Moseley's son.

The killing was said to have been orchestrated and funded by Christopher Moseley from the family estate in Deleware, creating an alleged interstate plot that pushed the case into federal court.

Balignasa's involvement, however, did not involve interstate activities and his case was left to the Clark County district attorney's office for prosecution.

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