EXCLUSIVE: Former Playmate Victoria Rathgeb Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder
Feb. 4 2011, Published 10:30 a.m. ET
Former Playboy Playmate Victoria Rathgeb appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Friday and pled not guilty to attempted murder, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, the 66-year-old appeared stone faced as the plea was entered before Judge Barbara R. Johnson.
At a hearing last month, Rathgeb’s attorney requested to reduce the charge against his client -- also known as Angela Dorian and Victoria Vetri -- to assault with a deadly weapon.
Judge Michael D. Abzug denied the request for a reduced charge and ordered Rathgeb to stand trial on attempted murder for allegedly shooting her husband down the hall from their Hollywood apartment last October.
Bruce Rathgeb, the defendant’s husband of 25 years, testified in January that he left the couple's apartment on October 16 after his wife accused him of being unfaithful, and that he was waiting for the elevator door to open when he saw his wife about eight feet away.
"Quickly she just aimed and fired at me,'' Bruce said, telling the judge that he smelled gunpowder and felt burning and stinging on the left side of his body.
He said that his wife then put a small plastic bag in his mouth, which he spit out, and that she walked back to their apartment.
He testified that he passed out and later woke up in the hospital "in terrible pain.''
"They tried to take the bullet out. I guess it was close to the heart so they left it in,'' he said, noting that he has a 4-inch scar above his left pectoral muscle and cannot move his fingers on his left hand.
If convicted, Rathgeb could face up to life in prison. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for next month.
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