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Prosecutors: Edward Graziano's past is part of trial

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2009

CLEARWATER - Prosecutors are trying to introduce incidents from Edward Graziano's allegedly violent history as they prosecute him for trying to hire a hit man to kill his wife.

Specifically, they want to bring up the time in 2007 when Graziano struck his wife, Debra, and spat on the law enforcement officer who investigated the assault, according to a motion filed by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office on May 22.

Graziano, 53, was arrested Feb. 26 on a charge of solicitation to commit murder. He is being held at the Pinellas County Jail.

They also want to bring up the handful of times Debra sought a restraining order against her husband, and the time Edward violated the terms of one of those injunctions by going to Bayfront Medical Center to visit his son John while his wife was there, according to documents. Graziano reportedly said if he was unable to visit his son, he "will kill everyone," the motion says.

John Graziano, an Iraq war veteran, was left in a semiconscious state after he was injured while riding in a car driven by Nick Bollea that crashed. The Graziano family is suing the Bollea family: Nick; his mother, Linda Bollea; and Linda's estranged husband Terry, who is better known as the former wrestler Hulk Hogan.

The Graziano family thinks the Bolleas are liable for John's injuries and are seeking millions of dollars. Lawyers involved in the lawsuit have said Edward stood to gain financially as a result of Debra's death, either because he would become the family guardian or because he would get a greater share of any award or settlement.

John Graziano was eventually transferred from Bayfront to the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, where he is now.

Another incident prosecutors want to bring into their solicitation case against Edward Graziano is the time he was seen at the VA hospital placing a tracking device on Debra's car, in an apparent attempt to keep tabs on her whereabouts.

In February, Edward Graziano was arrested on charges he tried to get a private investigator he had initially hired to follow Debra, to arrange to have her killed. But there was another incident that Graziano was not technically charged with – trying to get an employee at the Internet café at the VA hospital to kill Debra for $5,000 – and prosecutors want to bring that in, too.

They also want to bring in threats Graziano made, after his arrest, that he would kill at least one law enforcement agent once he was released from prison on the solicitation charge.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

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