Florida - Opening arguments set in Curious George case....

Opening arguments will be heard this morning in the death penalty case against 1 of 2 men who allegedly brutalized and robbed the collaborator of the Curious George children's books.

Vincent Puglisi, 56, is accused in the 2006 stabbing death of 76-year-old Alan Shalleck, who was beaten and stabbed more than 100 times and nearly had his genitals severed during a sadomasochistic 3-way sexual tryst at Shalleck's Boynton Beach mobile home. In October, Puglisi's 32-year-old lover and co-defendant, Rex Ditto, pleaded guilty to murdering Shalleck and is serving a life sentence.

Last week, Puglisi, an Oakland Park restaurant worker, turned down a plea offer of 30 years for a second-degree murder conviction. He faces a death sentence if convicted as charged of 1st-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.

(source: Sun-Sentinel)