'Springer' Slaying Suspect in Custody

ByABC News
July 28, 2000, 8:10 AM

July 29 -- A man suspected of killing his ex-wife after they appeared on The Jerry Springer Show turned himself in to authorities Friday. His current wife is also in custody.

Ralf Panitz was wanted in connection with the slaying of Nancy Campbell-Panitz, who was found beaten to death last Monday at a home in Florida she had sometimes shared with Panitz and his current wife, Eleanor. Just hours before, a national audience had seen Nancy, Ralf and Eleanor in a heated exchange on a Springer episode titled Secret Mistresses Confronted.

Sarasota County Sheriffs officials said Ralf, 40, and Eleanor, 45, flew back to Florida from Boston Friday and, accompanied by a lawyer, turned themselves in. In a 20-minute hearing Friday, a judge ordered Ralf held without bail on a first-degree murder charge. The judge also ordered that Eleanor be held as a material witness.

This witness was, if not in his (Ralfs) immediate presence,was very close to him when this crime occurred, Assistant Sarasota StateAttorney Charlie RobertsRoberts said at the hearing.

A judge will review Eleanors status Tuesday and could order her toremain in custody without bond, set bond and conditions of herrelease or release her.

A Tumultuous Relationship

The slaying victim and her ex-husband seem to have had a troubled and volatile relationship. Until her appearance on The Jerry Springer Show, Campbell-Panitz wanted to reconcile with Ralf and remarry him, the slain womans lawyer, Lisa Kleinberg, told ABCNEWS Good Morning America Friday.

During the show, Campbell-Panitz who was married to Ralf for 15 months until February 1999 learned for the first time that Ralf and Eleanor were married. Until recently, she had shared a home with the couple, even after divorcing Panitz.

On the show, she revealed that she thought she had been asked to appear so that she and Ralf could reconcile. But after surprising her with the news of his marriage to Eleanor, Ralf accused Campbell-Panitz of stalking him and said he thought a TV confrontation would convince her to leave him alone.