Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Man Splashed Gasoline on Ex-Wife in Oceanside

Danny Vinci splashed gasoline on his ex-wife in a parking lot full of witnesses, on March 11, 2010. The woman had gone to an Oceanside dance studio to pick up her granddaughter, as she always did Wednesday evenings, so Vinci knew where to find her.

“He said, ‘You’re going to die, you fucking bitch,” the woman testified. She said Vinci showed her a lighter in his hand and made sparks trying to light it; “I was going to go up in flames,” she said. Danny Vinci and his ex-wife are both 44 years old.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“He wanted to scare her,” said public defender Kathleen Cannon. “That was wrong, clearly.” The defense attorney said Danny Vinci wanted his ex-wife to be scared, sad, and broken-hearted like he was – but he didn’t want to hurt her. Defense claimed that the lighter Vinci showed his victim could not have made a spark to set her alight.

“No, I don’t believe Vinci’s lighter had the strike wheel missing,” countered the prosecutor. “I believe Vinci had a lighter in his hand and was attempting to light it. The victim saw it and although none of the eyewitnesses saw it, they also did not dispute it. The fact that the defendant had so many lighters in his car and admitted in his letter to [Oceanside police] that there was a lighter tells me that he really had one. The fact that he purchased a lighter after the crime, on 3/17/10, while he already had so many lighters in his car, tells me that he was setting up his defense in this case.”

Two weeks after the gasoline-splashing incident, sheriff’s deputy Jarrett Moyette found a lighter in Vinci’s car that could not make a spark; it was inside an envelope addressed to police officers, with written explanations.

Prosecutor Keith Watanabe charged Danny Vinci with four counts, including felony assault and making criminal threats. At the end of a two-week trial, the jury declared Vinci guilty of all counts on July 21.

Danny Vinci previously served time in prison for at least five separate felonies and has one “strike” for making criminal threats on a different female. Sentencing is set for August 17. The victim from the current case is expected to appear in the Vista courthouse to make a statement.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Yo-Yo Ma, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky come to San Diego

Next Article

Looking back at race relations in Coronado

A former football player recalls the good and the bad

Danny Vinci splashed gasoline on his ex-wife in a parking lot full of witnesses, on March 11, 2010. The woman had gone to an Oceanside dance studio to pick up her granddaughter, as she always did Wednesday evenings, so Vinci knew where to find her.

“He said, ‘You’re going to die, you fucking bitch,” the woman testified. She said Vinci showed her a lighter in his hand and made sparks trying to light it; “I was going to go up in flames,” she said. Danny Vinci and his ex-wife are both 44 years old.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“He wanted to scare her,” said public defender Kathleen Cannon. “That was wrong, clearly.” The defense attorney said Danny Vinci wanted his ex-wife to be scared, sad, and broken-hearted like he was – but he didn’t want to hurt her. Defense claimed that the lighter Vinci showed his victim could not have made a spark to set her alight.

“No, I don’t believe Vinci’s lighter had the strike wheel missing,” countered the prosecutor. “I believe Vinci had a lighter in his hand and was attempting to light it. The victim saw it and although none of the eyewitnesses saw it, they also did not dispute it. The fact that the defendant had so many lighters in his car and admitted in his letter to [Oceanside police] that there was a lighter tells me that he really had one. The fact that he purchased a lighter after the crime, on 3/17/10, while he already had so many lighters in his car, tells me that he was setting up his defense in this case.”

Two weeks after the gasoline-splashing incident, sheriff’s deputy Jarrett Moyette found a lighter in Vinci’s car that could not make a spark; it was inside an envelope addressed to police officers, with written explanations.

Prosecutor Keith Watanabe charged Danny Vinci with four counts, including felony assault and making criminal threats. At the end of a two-week trial, the jury declared Vinci guilty of all counts on July 21.

Danny Vinci previously served time in prison for at least five separate felonies and has one “strike” for making criminal threats on a different female. Sentencing is set for August 17. The victim from the current case is expected to appear in the Vista courthouse to make a statement.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.