Pooroushasb &quot;Peter&quot; Parineh. (Courtesy of the San Mateo County Sheriff&#8217;s Office)
Pooroushasb "Peter" Parineh. (Courtesy of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office) ( NSR )




The Parineh's three children were frequently seen in the courtroom, and on Thursday, Austiag Hormoz Parineh, 33, of Urvine cried with relief and hugged jurors after the verdict.


The defense didn't protest the defeat. Ketchum said he and his client were obviously disappointed, but the jury had done its job and he accepted their decision. The conviction is subject to an automatic appeal, Ketchum said.


"I think our case was based on reasonable doubt," he added. "The strength of our case was in the forensics."

While the jury grappled with the case, they ultimately concluded the physical proof could add up to only one thing: murder. "It was overwhelming," said juror Vidur Sood, 47, of San Mateo.

Parima Parineh suffered three gunshot wounds -- two to her head -- the day of her murder. Deputy District Attorney Jeff Finigan argued the position of her body, the numbers of shots and the way her blood splattered, made it clear the scene had been staged. Though the husband made a hysterical 911 call claiming his wife had killed herself, San Mateo County Sheriff's detectives immediately suspected murder.

Their theory found a motive in Peter Parineh's messy finances. Though his holdings had been worth up to $70 million in 2006 some bad investments, the real estate crash and a legal judgment left him facing ruin. Multiple properties were in foreclosure, including the family's Fox Hill Road mansion, and the funding for Parima Parineh's life insurance policy was about to collapse.


"There really was no other possible explanation for why things looked the way they did," Sood, the juror, said fighting back tears.


"Justice was done today in San Mateo County," said Wagstaffe. "(Parineh's) defense wasn't just 'I didn't do it;' it was 'she did it.' That's as vile as you can get."

Parineh was being held at San Mateo County jail without bail.
